Theresa F. Rogers

Interviews by Telephone and in Person Quality of Responses and Field Performance

A small carefully controlled field experiment tests the effects of alternative interviewing strategies on the quality of responses and on field performance. Measures include ability to answer complex knowledge and attitudinal items, response validity, and willingness and consistency in providing personal information. Field performance is assessed by examining differential length of the interview, number of contacts required, suitable times for interviewing, respondent preferences for interview strategy, and interviewer effects. Theresa F. Rogers is a Senior Research Associate at the Bureau of Applied Social Research, Columbia University.

Behavior changes after notification of HIV infection.

BACKGROUND To learn more about how people who did not volunteer for testing react to information about HIV infection, we assessed short-term behavior changes in HIV-positive blood donors. METHODS Blood donors who were notified at the New York Blood Center that they were HIV positive were asked to participate in a study. A nurse elicited a medical history, performed a limited medical examination, and asked participants to complete a questionnaire that included questions about drug use, sexual behavior, and psychological characteristics. Participants were asked to return in 2 weeks to complete another questionnaire. RESULTS Many fewer men and women reported engaging in unsafe sexual behaviors in the 2 weeks preceding the follow-up visit than had reported such behaviors prior to notification. These changes were greater than those other investigators have reported, but about 40% of the participants still reported unsafe sexual activity at the follow-up interview. CONCLUSIONS To make nonvolunteer screening programs for HIV infection more effective in reducing the spread of HIV infection, we need to learn more about how to help people change their high-risk behaviors.

A randomized trial of an education and support program for HIV-infected individuals

ObjectivesTo assess the effectiveness of an intervention for providing information, and support to HIV-positive donors on changes in their sexual behavior, and to assess which donor characteristics are predictive of behavior change. DesignSubjects were randomly assigned to a structured intervention or community referral group. Follow-up assessments were conducted every 6 months. SettingNew York City, New York, USA. ParticipantsA cohort of 271 HIV-infected persons who donated blood to the New York Blood Center. InterventionDonors randomized to the structured intervention program met individually with a nurse for counseling, and were offered a six-session support group. The program was designed to provide information, encourage safer sexual behavior, and provide support. Main outcome measuresSexual behavior, psychological distress, and psychological help seeking, and immune function. ResultsIn both groups there was a large decrease over time in reports of unsafe sexual activity. However, more than 30% of participants in both groups reported unsafe sexual activity at the 1-year follow-up visit. Donors randomized to the structured intervention program did not report significantly more behavior change at the 1-year follow-up. ConclusionsBetter programs to promote behavior change in seropositive individuals are needed.

Sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics of HIV antibody-positive blood donors.

This paper describes the sociodemographic and behavioral characteristics of 173 blood donors who were confirmed by Western blot tests to have antibodies to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the etiologic agent for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Seropositive donors were predominantly young, unmarried, and male, and major risk factors could be identified for almost all donors. However, more than 20 per cent of the study participants were women, and many participants were not aware that they were at risk of infection. The heterogeneity of the study population, the lack of awareness among many subjects of risk factors and self-exclusion procedures, and the high level of distress among many subjects after notification, emphasize the need for intensive, well-designed education and support programs.

Health Education about AIDS among Seropositive Blood Donors

The New York Blood Center is developing a health education and psychosocial sup port program for blood donors who are notified that they are HIV antibody positive. The goals of that program are: (1) to provide accurate and intelligible information about the test results to notified donors; (2) to encourage behavior that will reduce the likelihood of spreading the virus; (3) to encourage notified donors to behave in ways that will reduce the probability that they will develop AIDS; and (4) to provide sup port and facilitate functional coping responses. This article reviews the theoretical and empirical work which informs the intervention program, and it describes how the pro gram is being implemented.

The Effect of Technology on Alienation from Work: Testing Blauner's Inverted U-Curve Hypothesis for 110 Industrial Organizations and 245 Retrained Printers

This article presents new evidence on the effect of technology on alienation from work that is pertinent to Blauners inverted U-curve hypothesis. One data set permits comparative analysis at the organizational level and addresses a gap in the literature on worker alienation because most research uses individual level data grouped by industrial categories. This organizational level approach is applied to individual level data on retrained union printers to analyze the impact of automation on the work of skilled craftsmen. Humanization of work in postindustrial society is examined. The relationship between technological advance and alienation is more negatively linear than curvilinear.

PUBLIC OPINION ABOUT AIDS BEFORE AND AFTER THE 1988 U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGN

In October, 1987, the Centers for Disease Control mounted a massive public information campaign to alert the public to the dangers of AIDS and to provide information about its transmission and prevention. Using data from two Gallup surveys, one just before the campaign began and the other several months after its conclusion, we examine changes in public information and misinformation about transmission, in concern about AIDS as an epidemic, and in reported behavior to avoid exposure to AIDS. We conclude that although some changes in knowledge did take place, these were essentially a continuation of trends beginning before the public information campaign and continuing well after its conclusion. For these and other reasons, we argue that the effects of the campaign on public information were minimal. However, between 1987 and 1988 there was a small but statistically significant increase in reported condom use, an increase paralleled by increased condom sales between 1986 and 1988. In addition, there was a substantial increase in the number of people expressing concern about AIDS as an epidemic for the population at large. The campaign may well have contributed to both of these changes.

Printers face automation : the impact of technology on work and retirement among skilled craftsmen

American workers, is very closely tied with the private pension system. In fact, the cost that many pension plans (and Social Security, at age 65 at least) impose on delayed retirement, in terms of forgone benefits, may make the mandatory retirement constraint redundant for many. This entire topic, obviously of current interest, receives little attention. Similarly, the concept of partial retirement or gradual withdrawal from the labor force is overlooked. To what extent do pension and Social Security incentives explain why this phenomenon is not more frequent among American workers? Finally, I would have paid more attention to the treatment of women and to the pros and cons of the current proposals for reform. The topics that are covered, however, are covered well. Steins decision to appeal to a general audience limits the books value to economists who work in this area. I would recommend it highly, however, to professionals who are not familiar with these issues, to interested citizens, and to teachers of courses on Social Security or aging. The book deals with a number of interesting current problem areas and presents reasoned discussions of policy alternatives. With some selections from its extensive footnotes and bibliography, and additions from current journals or working papers, it could provide the core of a very interesting and relevant course on retirement in America. Joseph F. Quinn Associate Professor Department of Economics Boston College

Improving the fit between social science and health care practice: Suggested next steps for the researcher

The aim of this paper is to assess social science research on health and illness in order to enhance its utility for the practical world of health care. The premise is that both social scientists and health care professionals share complementary intellectual interests in fostering empirical research on health and illness. Barriers built into the orientation and reward structure of both professions impede collaborative efforts. In our view, however, the advantages of working on these problems outweigh the disadvantages. Toward this end, we suggest several substantive and methodological directions to be encouraged and then discuss prospects for collaboration from the perspectives of social science, medicine and the wider society. We see opportunity for comparative work, synthesis and the systematic nesting of findings into a knowledge base that will permit generalizations. Our goal is to improve the fit between social science and health practice by increasing the relevance of social science findings for the delivery of care and the training of health care professionals. In addition, hopefully, our suggestions will advance social research independent of its impact on the health field.