Sheldon D. Fields

Last updated
Sheldon D. Fields
Born
Sheldon Darcy Fields

New York City, New York, US
NationalityAmerican
Alma materBinghamton University (B.S. and M.S.) and University of Pennsylvania (Ph.D.)

Sheldon D. Fields (born January, 1970), is a Registered Professional Nurse, Family Nurse Practitioner, educator, researcher, health policy analyst, and nurse entrepreneur who is known for his work in the field of behavioral health research specializing in the area of HIV/AIDS prevention.

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Early life and education

Fields was born in Brooklyn, New York, in January 1970, the youngest child of six children raised by a single mother. Fields attended public schools and lived in Brooklyn until the age of 17. Sheldon attended Clara Barton High School for Health Professionals with the intention of going to medical school in the future. Instead, he discovered his love of nursing. At the age of 17, Sheldon began his college education at the State University of New York (now known as Binghamton University). Fields graduated in 1991 and started his first job as a nurse at the Sloan Cancer Center in New York City. It was there that Fields first was exposed to the HIV/AIDS population. Working at Sloan Cancer Center, Fields also worked closely with Nurse Practitioners and decided to return to school to receive his advanced degree in nursing. In 1993, Fields returned to Binghamton University to complete a master's in family nursing with certification as Family Nurse Practitioner. While studying for his master's degree, Fields researched intimate partner violence. His mentor, Dr. Theresa Grabo, encouraged him to pursue a Ph.D., and Fields went on to attend the University of Pennsylvania, his mentor's alma mater, graduating with a Ph.D. in Nursing Science in 2000.

Professional life

Fields's specialty is behavioral health, in particular HIV/AIDS prevention. He has produced contributions including scholarly articles, book chapters, seminars, webinars, newspaper articles, and television appearances. Many of his contributions focus on the young minority HIV/AIDS population.

Fields has conducted national-level research within the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN) and the HIV Prevention Trials Network(HPTN). Along with these endeavors, Fields began his career as an assistant professor at Binghamton University from 2000 to 2001. While in Rochester, New York, in 2009, he was selected for the highly competitive and prestigious Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship, which allowed him to work in the office of United States Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD). Fields supported Senator Mikulski's work on the aging subcommittee of the Senate HELP committee during the height of the historic healthcare reform legislation. [1] Shortly after, Fields was promoted to associate professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Rochester.

In late 2011, Fields became an associate professor at Florida International University's Nicole Wertheim College of Nursing and Health Sciences and served as the first-ever assistant dean of clinical affairs and health policy, as well as the co-director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program. Fields left Florida in January 2015 to be the dean of the Mervyn M. Dymally School of Nursing at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, California. This appointment made Fields one of the youngest nursing deans in the country. Fields is also one of very few people of color (Afro-Latino) or men to have led a school of nursing. Fields left Drew in 2016, and in January 2017 he began work as dean of New York Institute of Technology's School of Health Professions, where he oversaw five allied health degree programs. [2] until August 2019. He is founder and CEO of his own healthcare consultant firm that he started in 2016. Fields is a fellow in the national academy of practice (FNAP), the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (FAANP), and the prestigious American Academy of Nursing (FAAN).[ citation needed ]

Fields has been cited in several newspapers, including the Sun-Sentinel [3] and the Bay Area Reporter . [4] He has also written a chapter in the book Disaster Nursing and Emergency Preparedness. [5]

Awards and honors

Works

Journal articles

Related Research Articles

HIV/AIDS in the United States Epidemic in the United States

The AIDS epidemic, caused by HIV, found its way to the United States between the 1970s and 1980s, but was first noticed after doctors discovered clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystis pneumonia in homosexual men in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco in 1981. Treatment of HIV/AIDS is primarily via the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs, and education programs to help people avoid infection.

Down-low is an African-American slang term specifically used within the African-American community that typically refers to a sexual subculture of Black men who usually identify as heterosexual but actively seek sexual encounters and relations with other men, practice gay cruising, and frequently adopt a specific hip-hop attire during these activities. They generally avoid disclosing their same-sex sexual activities, even if they have female sexual partner(s), they are married to a woman, or they are single. The term is also used to refer to a related sexual identity. Down-low has been viewed as "a type of impression management that some of the informants use to present themselves in a manner that is consistent with perceived norms about masculine attribute, attitudes, and behavior".

Men who have sex with men (MSM), also known as males who have sex with males, are male persons who engage in sexual activity with members of the same sex, regardless of how they identify themselves. They may identify as gay, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, or heterosexual; or dispense with sexual identification altogether.

A syndemic or synergistic epidemic is the aggregation of two or more concurrent or sequential epidemics or disease clusters in a population with biological interactions, which exacerbate the prognosis and burden of disease. The term was developed by Merrill Singer in the early 1990s to call attention to the synergistic nature of the health and social problems facing the poor and underserved. Syndemics develop under health disparity, caused by poverty, stress, or structural violence and are studied by epidemiologists and medical anthropologists concerned with public health, community health and the effects of social conditions on health.

HIV/AIDS in China can be traced to an initial outbreak of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) first recognized in 1989 among injecting drug users along China's southern border. Figures from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, and UNAIDS estimate that there were 1.25 million people living with HIV/AIDS in China at the end of 2018, with 135,000 new infections from 2017. The reported incidence of HIV/AIDS in China is relatively low, but the Chinese government anticipates that the number of individuals infected annually will continue to increase.

Professor Sheila Dinotshe Tlou is a Botswana nurse, specialist in HIV/AIDS and women's health, and a nursing educator. She was Minister of Health from 2004 to 2008. Professor Tlou is a distinguished advocate for human resources for health issues. She is a recognized visionary leader and champion.

APLA Health

APLA Health is a non-profit organization aimed at achieving health care equity and promoting well-being for the LGBT and people living with HIV."

HIV/AIDS in Eswatini was first reported in 1986 but has since reached epidemic proportions. As of 2016, Eswatini had the highest prevalence of HIV among adults aged 15 to 49 in the world (27.2%).

With less than 0.1 percent of the population estimated to be HIV-positive, Bangladesh is a low HIV-prevalence country.

The Dominican Republic has a 0.7 percent prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS, among the lowest percentage-wise in the Caribbean region. However, it has the second most cases in the Caribbean region in total, with an estimated 46,000 HIV/AIDS-positive Dominicans as of 2013.

HIV/AIDS in El Salvador has a less than 1 percent prevalence of the adult population reported to be HIV-positive, El Salvador and therefore there is a low-HIV-prevalence country, but the virus remains a significant threat in high-risk communities, such as commercial sex workers (CSWs) and men who have sex with men (MSM).

According to the Global Fund, Honduras is the Central American country most adversely affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. As of 1998, Honduras had the highest prevalence of HIV out of all seven Central American countries according to a study published by the office of the Honduran Secretary of Public Health. As of that same year, Hondurans made up only 17% of the Central American population, yet Honduras contained 50% of the initial AIDS cases in Central America and 60% of all Central American cases in 2001. In more recent years, new HIV infections have decreased by 29% since 2010 while AIDS-related deaths have increased by 11% since then. HIV/AIDS heavily affects the young, active, working population in Honduras, and HIV/AIDS deaths account for 10% of the overall national mortality rate. As of 2008, AIDS was the leading cause of death among Honduran women of childbearing age and the second-leading cause of hospitalization among both men and women. Sexually transmitted infections are common, and condom use in risky sexual encounters is sporadic and variable. HIV remains a mainly heterosexual epidemic in Honduras, as 90% of emerging infections are attributed to heterosexual transmission. It is estimated that the prevalence of HIV among Honduran adults is 1.5%.

With less than 1 percent of the population estimated to be HIV-positive, Egypt is a low-HIV-prevalence country. However, between the years 2006 and 2011, HIV prevalence rates in Egypt increased tenfold. Until 2011, the average number of new cases of HIV in Egypt was 400 per year. But, in 2012 and 2013 it increased to about 600 new cases and in 2014 it reached 880 new cases per year. According to UNAIDS 2016 statistics, there are about 11,000 people currently living with HIV in Egypt. The Ministry of Health and Population reported in 2020 over 13000 Egyptians are living with HIV/AIDS. However, unsafe behaviors among most-at-risk populations and limited condom usage among the general population place Egypt at risk of a broader epidemic.

HIV-affected community Medical condition

The affected community is composed of people who are living with HIV and AIDS, plus individuals whose lives are directly influenced by HIV infection. This originally was defined as young to middle aged adults who associate with being gay or bisexual men, and or injection drug users. HIV-affected community is a community that is affected directly or indirectly affected by HIV. These communities are usually influenced by HIV and undertake risky behaviours that lead to a higher chance of HIV infection. To date HIV infection is still one of the leading cause of deaths around the world with an estimate of 36.8 million people diagnosed with HIV by the end of 2017, but there can particular communities that are more vulnerable to HIV infection, these communities include certain races, gender, minorities, and disadvantaged communities. One of the most common communities at risk is the gay community as it is commonly transmitted through unsafe sex. The main factor that contributes to HIV infection within the gay/bisexual community is that gay men do not use protection when performing anal sex or other sexual activities which can lead to a higher risk of HIV infections. Another community will be people diagnosed with mental health issues, such as depression is one of the most common related mental illnesses associated with HIV infection. HIV testing is an essential role in reducing HIV infection within communities as it can lead to prevention and treatment of HIV infections but also helps with early diagnosis of HIV. Educating young people in a community with the knowledge of HIV prevention will be able to help decrease the prevalence within the community. As education is an important source for development in many areas. Research has shown that people more at risk for HIV are part of disenfranchised and inner city populations as drug use and sexually transmitted diseases(STDs) are more prevalent. People with mental illnesses that inhibit making decisions or overlook sexual tendencies are especially at risk for contracting HIV.

Discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS or serophobia is the prejudice, fear, rejection, and stigmatization of people with HIV/AIDS. Marginalized, at-risk groups such as members of the LGBTQ+ community, intravenous drug users, and sex workers are most vulnerable to facing HIV/AIDS discrimination. The consequences of societal stigma against PLHIV are quite severe, as HIV/AIDS discrimination actively hinders access to HIV/AIDS screening and care around the world. Moreover, these negative stigmas become used against members of the LGBTQ+ community in the form of stereotypes held by physicians.

Since reports of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) began to emerge and spread in the United States between the 1970s and 1980s, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has frequently been linked to gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) by epidemiologists and medical professionals. It was first noticed after doctors discovered clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystis pneumonia in homosexual men in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco in 1981. The first official report on the virus was published by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) on June 5, 1981 and detailed the cases of five young gay men who were hospitalized with serious infections. A month later, The New York Times reported that 41 homosexuals had been diagnosed with Kaposi's sarcoma, and eight had died less than 24 months after the diagnosis was made. By 1982, the condition was referred to in the medical community as "gay-related immune deficiency" (GRID), "gay cancer," and "gay compromise syndrome". It was not until July 1982 that the term Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was suggested to replace GRID, and even then it was not until September that the CDC first used the AIDS acronym in an official report.

Checkpoint was the name of the first rapid HIV testing facility in the Netherlands. This project, run on a voluntary basis, was based in Amsterdam. From 21 June 2002 until its closure on 27 June 2008 almost 5000 people opted for a Checkpoint HIV test.

Gay sexual practices Sex between males

Gay sexual practices are sexual activities involving men who have sex with men (MSM), regardless of their sexual orientation or sexual identity. These practices can include anal sex, non-penetrative sex, and oral sex. Evidence shows that sex between men is significantly underreported in surveys due to social desirability bias. Some or all sexual activity between men are currently or formerly classified as crimes in some jurisdictions.

LGBT health in South Korea

The health access and health vulnerabilities experienced by the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex (LGBTQI) community in South Korea are influenced by the state's continuous failure to pass anti-discrimination laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The construction and reinforcement of the South Korean national subject, "kungmin," and the basis of Confucianism and Christianity perpetuates heteronormativity, homophobia, discrimination, and harassment towards the LGBTQI community. The minority stress model can be used to explain the consequences of daily social stressors, like prejudice and discrimination, that sexual minorities face that result in a hostile social environment. Exposure to a hostile environment can lead to health disparities within the LGBTQI community, like higher rates of depression, suicide, suicide ideation, and health risk behavior. Korean public opinion and acceptance of the LGBTQI community have improved over the past two decades, but change has been slow, considering the increased opposition from Christian activist groups. In South Korea, obstacles to LGBTQI healthcare are characterized by discrimination, a lack of medical professionals and medical facilities trained to care for LGBTQI individuals, a lack of legal protection and regulation from governmental entities, and the lack of medical care coverage to provide for the health care needs of LGBTQI individuals. The presence of Korean LGBTQI organizations is a response to the lack of access to healthcare and human rights protection in South Korea. It is also important to note that research that focuses on Korean LGBTQI health access and vulnerabilities is limited in quantity and quality as pushback from the public and government continues.

References

  1. HIV Researcher Heads to Washington to Study Health Policy. Sept 9, 2009. www.urmc.rochester.edu. Retrieved on 2012-11-3.
  2. "Sheldon Fields to Lead NYIT School of Health Professions," Newswise, 4 January 2017. Retrieved on 2017-01-04.
  3. Nurse practitioners tackling more "doctor" tasks. May 5, 2012. Sun-sentinel.com. Retrieved on 2012-11-3
  4. HIV rages among gay black men. Aug 2, 2012. Ebar.com. Retrieved on 2012-11-3
  5. Sheldon Fields. "Chapter 35: Caring for Patients with HIV and AIDS Following a Disaster" Disaster Nursing and Emergency Preparedness: For Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Terrorism and Other Hazards (3 ed). Ed. Tener Goodwin Veenema, PhD, MPH, MS, CPNP. Springer Publishing Company, 2012. 647-654.