This study confirms that there is stigma attached to how Somali-Americans perceive mental and emotional impairments compared to the perception of physical disabilities and impairments. More Somali-Americans are willing to seek help regarding their mental and physical health which is a positive step in improving the perceptions of Somali-Americans towards mental or emotional impairments and physical disabilities. Findings can contribute to the knowledge of health care professionals (i.e. nurses) in caring for patients identifying as Somali to promote culturally competent care.

Background: Excessive alcohol use is linked to numerous morbidities, in addition to the enormous economic impact on healthcare. Screening, brief intervention, referral to treatment (SBIRT) is a proven, effective tool in reducing alcohol use; however it is severely underutilized due to barriers such as provider time constraints and lack of confidence. Numerous missed opportunities exist regarding screening and early intervention, which could significantly improve patient outcomes. An SBIRT pilot utilizing student-mediated brief interventions could serve to increase provider confidence and awareness, as well as overcome time constraint barriers.

Purpose: The purpose is to implement an SBIRT pilot at a campus clinic, utilizing nurse practioner (NP) students to conduct universal alcohol screens and brief interventions (BI) as a means to overcome barriers to accepting an evidenced based practice.

Methods: Intervention group (IG) of two providers were matched with NP students to perform screens and BI’s (n=111), while a comparison group (CG) of three providers conducted usual care (n=41). Single question screens were administered universally, followed by an AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) and BI for positive screens. A pre/post pilot provider attitude survey was administered to gauge provider acceptance.

Results: Of 109 patients screened, 52% tested positive requiring a full AUDIT, 56% of AUDITS were positive requiring BI’s, 88% agreed to a BI, and 93% agreed to reduce alcohol intake. Post attitude survey revealed a 22% increase in provider acceptance. Chi square testing showed statistical significance, X²(1, N = 152) = 142.31, p < .001.

Conclusions: Utilizing students to perform universal screenings and BI’s is effective in implementing SBIRT while offering a sustainable option to overcome time constraint barriers and provider confidence as well as exposing misconceptions regarding patient acceptance.

Background: The purpose of the study was to develop and test the initial psychometric properties of the ATTitudes and Avatars INstrument (ATTAIN). The integrated behavior model guided instrument development to measure the young adolescent boys’ attitudes, intentions and actions to change their bodies.

Methods: An adolescent health expert panel and young adolescent boys were recruited to test for content validity. Fifty-nine boys 11 to 14 years of age were recruited at a middle school in the USA during physical education class to conduct a pilot study to test for internal consistency and test-retest reliability.

Results: The ATTAIN was found to have high content validity, slightly below recommended levels for internal consistency, and varied test-retest reliability.

Conclusion: The long-term goal of the development and testing of the ATTAIN is to make it available to researchers and professionals to screen and focus on adolescents’ perceptions of their bodies and using those perceptions to attain and maintain healthy bodies. The results of this study suggest preliminarily a theoretically derived instrument with appropriate content for young adolescent boys and variable reliability. The attitudes, intentions, and actions survey items and avatars as measured by the ATTAIN, were meaningful to the boys. The ATTAIN has potential to be used as a screening instrument for young adolescents boys and understanding their attitudes toward their bodies; however, it will require continued development and testing to establish construct and discriminant validity.