Current Research

NCFP logo

The Nurse-Community-Family Partnership (NCFP) Program: Increasing COVID-19 Testing in Underserved Communities

This randomized controlled trial evaluates the efficacy of the Nurse-Community-Family Partnership (NCFP) program in increasing COVID-19 testing, vaccination, and mitigation behaviors (such as mask-wearing, social distancing, and hand washing) and in reducing secondary sequelae (e.g. psychological distress, financial insecurity, etc.) among families in structurally disadvantaged communities.

This study is part of NIH's Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics in Underserved Communities (RADx-UP) initative. It aims to gather insights into COVID-19 prevalence in socially and economically underserved households of the South Bronx; improve the understanding of how Latino and Black families cope with the pandemic in New York City's hardest-hit communities; and build capacity for COVID-19 prevention planning at the household level. Existing COVID-19 prevention guidelines primarily focus on mitigating community transmission. The current study addresses an important gap in that it seeks to improve COVID-19 prevention in a context of elevated risk of COVID-19 transmission, namely the household, and in particular in households in underserved communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. CLAFH jointly leads this research in collaboration with the NYU Center for Drug Use and HIV Research (CDUHR).

Funding from: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), NIH

Families Talking Together Plus (FTT+)

This randomized controlled trial evaluates the efficacy of the remotely delivered and parent-based Families Talking Together Plus (FTT+) intervention in delaying sexual debut and, for youth who are sexually active, improving correct and consistent condom use. FTT+ is designed to support parent-adolescent communication about sex and condoms, as well as parental monitoring and involvement, in order to promote adolescent sexual health.

FTT is an established evidence-based prevention intervention, which has been shown to be effective for preventing adolescent sexual risk behavior when delivered face-to-face. The current study evaluates the efficacy a new delivery mechanism for FTT, namely remote delivery, which holds the potential to increase the reach of the FTT intervention program.

Funding from: Administration for Children and Families (ACF)

Mother and daughter
father talking to son

Exploring Father-Son Relationships to Promote Adolescent Life Opportunities

This mixed-methods study seeks to obtain insight regarding important dimensions of father-son relationships in addressing adolescent male academic/economic, social, and behavioral resilience in the context of large-scale societal events. The continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic represents an opportunity to understand how families (i.e. fathers) can best be equipped to support young men's academic/economic, social, and behavioral trajectories in a context of worsening inequality and diminishing life opportunities.

Study findings will inform programs to build capacity among fathers and sons for effective communication, greater father involvement in monitoring and supervision, father role modeling, and recognition of fathers' ability to shape adolescent males' future goals and aspirations, including within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Funding from: William T. Grant Foundation

Research Focused on Latino Sexual Health

CLAFH maintains a program of research focused on Latino sexual health disparities and development of interventions designed to prevent sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, and unplanned pregnancies. As part of this overarching program of research, CLAFH has drawn attention to a largely invisible HIV crisis in U.S. Latino communities and has informed efforts to improve the national response to HIV among Latinos.

In addition, CLAFH's work includes research to improve HIV prevention and treatment programming for Latinos, explore the drivers of rapidly increasing sexually transmitted infection rates among Latino youth, develop interventions to improve condom use among young Latino males, and conduct systematic reviews to summarize and evaluate existing scientific evidence in these areas.

young latino male
migrants

Latino-Focused Global Research

CLAFH's global work has maintained a focus on research, educational partnerships, and service in Mexico and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean, where a substantial proportion of Latinos in the United States have ancestral ties.

Our research focuses on contextual risk that contributes health and socioeconomic disparities and seeks to identify levers that can be leveraged to reduce disparities. As part of this work, CLAFH partners with the Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla (UPAEP) in Puebla, Mexico, on a program of research focused on issues surrounding Latino migration dynamics into the United States. Dr. María de Lourdes Rosas López heads CLAFH's Mexico-based partnerships.