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Purpose: The goal of Volume 21 of Advances in Medical Sociology, entitled Sexual and Gender Minority Health, is to showcase recent developments and areas for future research related to the health, well-being, and healthcare experiences of LGBTQA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, Queer, Asexual, and related communities that do not identify as heterosexual) persons and communities.

Approach: In this introduction to the volume, we trace the historical development of research on sexual and gender minority (SGM) health, discussing how priorities, theories, and evidence have evolved over time. We conclude with brief suggestions for future research and an overview of the articles presented in this volume.

Findings: Research on SGM health has flourished in the past two decades. This trend has occurred in conjunction with a period of intense social, political, and legal discourse about the civil rights of SGM persons, which has increased understanding and recognition of SGM experiences. However, recent advances have often been met with resistance and backlash rooted in enduring social stigma and long histories of discrimination and prejudice that reinforce and maintain health disparities faced by SGM populations.

Value: Our review highlights the need for additional research to understand minority stress processes, risk factors, and resiliency, particularly for those at the intersection of SGM and racial/ethnic or socioeconomic marginality.

This paper aims to identify and review websites that contribute knowledge about and by women for scholars in women’s studies.

The authors scoured the internet for those sites with timely, authoritative research reports about and by women with a feminist viewpoint.

There are many gems that provide statistical, theoretical and heuristic insights into the condition of women that may, unless promoted, not be discovered by students who need them.

New websites will be created and others described herein will evolve.

The lived experiences of women are largely not covered by standard reference sources, and this requires the librarian to seek out and promote the freely available websites out there that help inform scholars about the experiences of half the world’s population.

There is not one place where the gender and women’s studies librarian can go to find a comprehensive list of the freely available resources that can benefit the feminist scholar, and this paper brings together many of them in one place.

Elaborates on the diversity of the people movement between the USA and Mexico and the effect on goods and resources for the two, particularly regarding HIV/AIDS collaboration. Makes observations about the US/Mexico political‐organizational field, such as the governmental, service, activist, academic and religious. Spotlights San Diego – Tijuana as binational fields which prove a sound example of what can be achieved at local and federal levels – for the benefit of both communities. Concludes with policy recommendations for effective binational collaboration on the US and Mexican sides, with the USA providing more funds for the Mexican side of the border.

Civil society played a significant role during and after the 2014 revolution in Ukraine, which led to the resignation of President Yanukovich and his government and triggered a series of political, economic and social changes. In some areas, particularly by HIV and tuberculosis, the critical gaps threatened the emergence of a public health catastrophe. The purpose of this paper is to describe how civil society expands and strengthens its role in complex crisis situations, self-regulating and re-adjusting own aims and strategy by using the case of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) active in HIV prevention in high-risk groups and harm reduction.

The paper presents the analysis of the case of Alliance of Public Health, one of the principal recipients of the Global Fund to Fight Tuberculosis, AIDS and Malaria in 2014-2016, during and after the Euromaidan Revolution in Ukraine.

In the post-Euromaidan era, NGO sector has been able to sustain the response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic at a stable level despite significant limitations of resources and the overall fragile situation. Special efforts have been undertaken to continue activities in the conflict zone in the east of the country. Furthermore, NGOs managed to extend beyond their usual responsibilities, bridging the gaps in deteriorating public health and social systems, including taking the leadership in medical procurement; advocating for national plans development; and supplying medical goods to the uncontrolled territories in the east of the country.

This paper is one of the first exploring the role of non-governmental sector in HIV/AIDS programmes in resource-scarce situation of political, social and economic crisis. Case description of the strategies and activities applied in the situation gives the possibility to reflect on raising the effectiveness of the response to existing and emerging public health issues in complex crisis, as well on the potential for HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment advocacy to grow into global health diplomacy.

The incipient HIV/AIDS epidemic in Chile poses challenges for responsiveness of the Chilean national health care system, Fondo Nacional de Salud (FONASA) (National Health Funds), especially given the sociocultural forces for inertia in FONASA. Thus, the issue is what is the nature of the forces for change. A grounded theory approach was applied to interview data from two qualitative studies, one with HIV/AIDS advocates and activists as interviewees and the other with Chilean low-income women. The stories of their experiences with and perceptions of FONASA revealed major issues facing FONASA, including quality of care and ethics. Ways in which these issues are being addressed by the activists result in constructed environmental dynamism. A conceptual model of the forces for change was developed including actors, strategies, and targets of change that constitutes organizational environmental dynamism. The construct of environmental dynamism has international applicability, particularly to governmental health systems, which are influenced by strong sociocultural forces.

Impact mitigation strategies in sub-Saharan Africa on HIV/AIDS in the education sector involved initially the development of education sector policies. This study traces the policy development initiatives, level of implementation, progress made and existing challenges. The study is based on a close (textual) reading of authoritative literature from United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), World Bank, UNESCO and UNICEF for the last decade on global monitoring of HIV/AIDS and statistical data. Studies on the impact of HIV/AIDS on the education sector in sub-Saharan Africa have been brought into focus and themes have been extracted and synthesised from a comparative perspective to guide the development of this chapter. Across the countries, the education sector HIV/AIDS policies had concurrence with the countries’ national HIV and AIDS policy or guidelines, and conformed to international conventions, national laws, policies, guidelines and regulations. Most of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa showed a significant decline in HIV prevalence among young women or men and opportunities to improve HIV-prevention knowledge and behaviour still abound. Antiretroviral therapy and other types of treatment have expanded since the early 2000s, but the number of AIDS-related deaths remains high. This chapter fulfils an identified information/resources need and amplifies the progress achieved in the mitigation of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the education sector specifically and humanity in general.

Older adults’ sexual health is becoming an increasingly important component of healthy aging in the wake of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and rising infection rates among this age cohort. The increase in HIV/AIDS diagnoses in the older adult population ignites the need to understand the reasons why older adults are omitted from HIV/AIDS prevention education policy.

This chapter examines the social forces that influence HIV/AIDS policy at the state and community levels. Through qualitative methodology and analysis, including interviews with state policymakers and managers of AIDS service organizations in four Midwestern states (n=31), I look for trends and patterns as to whether or not older adults are considered as an “at-risk” group for HIV infection.

Findings reveal that HIV/AIDS policy may be impacted by enduring sexual scripts about older adults. To some extent both state policymakers and AIDS service organization personnel adhere to stereotypes about older adults’ sexuality and sexual activity, which is then implemented in their health promotion activities. The result is that gaps exist in HIV/AIDS prevention education for older adults, despite the fact that current trends show an increase in new HIV infections and AIDS diagnoses among people over the age of 50.

While this is an exploratory study of the available HIV/AIDS prevention education and health promotion activities for older adults, as well as the viewpoints of state policymakers and AIDS service organization personnel, the findings do indicate the need for additional research on the potentially dangerous sexual behaviors – lack of HIV testing, low condom usage, multiple partners – exhibited by older adults. Future research involving interviews with older adults, physicians, and medical personnel may add new perspectives to the current research.

As the baby boomers continue to age and challenge cultural stereotypes of sexual behaviors among older adults, research in the area of sexual health and HIV/AIDS prevention education will remain an important component of healthy aging. This research begins what will ultimately be a necessary conversation.

This paper aims to examine how small, grass‐roots non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) account for their actions and expenditures and how this accountability is discharged to, and benefits, the citizens they serve.

The paper draws on social capital theory to inform an interpretive analysis of documentary and interview evidence. The empirical material is derived from CHAI policy and project documents, coupled with interviews with 75 participants at the national, district and community levels of the CHAI programme. An illustrative case study is presented of an NGO that delivers welfare services to a Ugandan community affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The research finds that, by harnessing the attributes of social capital, grass‐roots NGOs can supplement formal accountability obligations to funders with effective “bottom‐up” accountability to an often overlooked NGO stakeholder group – the service beneficiaries, with positive outcomes for social services delivery.

The research examines a single community‐led public welfare initiative (the Ugandan CHAI), with a particular focus on one illustrative grass‐roots NGO within that programme. Nevertheless, it offers insights into how accountability mechanisms can be reconceptualised to suit the context of developing countries where smaller NGOs increasingly operate.

The potential for less formal, “bottom‐up” accountability mechanisms is illustrated using the case of the Ugandan community‐led HIV/AIDS initiative (CHAI), a programme for delivering social services to communities ravaged by the effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

This research addresses the lack of empirical studies of smaller, grass‐roots NGOs in the accounting literature. It also contributes to the under‐researched area of how NGOs can appropriately discharge their accountability obligations to beneficiaries. The use of social capital theory to inform the study is also a novel contribution of this paper.

There were 89,708 prisoners in Indonesia in April 2006. The majority were charged for narcotics related crimes. Prisons are working at over‐capacity and with miniscule healthcare budgets. There has been an increase of deaths due to AIDS, particularly among people who inject drugs. Official data shows that HIV prevalence averages 22% in prisons. In late 2002, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) decided to promote HIV/AIDS prevention and care activities for prisoners to prevent the spread of HIV within prisons, and from there to the community as a whole. In 2005, MOJ launched the Indonesian National Strategy for HIV/AIDS Prevention, Care and Support for Prisoners. The Indonesian HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Project has been actively involved in the design of these programs and supported their implementation in several prisons, together with other organizations. The Indonesian National Strategy is the first of its kind in Asia, and one of only a few dedicated national strategies for HIV/AIDS prevention and care for prisoners. It has enabled education, as well as the provision of condoms, bleach, methadone and antiretroviral therapy for prisoners. This paper describes the National Strategy for HIV/AIDS Prevention, Care and Support for Prisoners, which will help control the HIVepidemic among people who inject drugs and ultimately be beneficial for the community as a whole.