Nelson Varas‐díaz
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 122826 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Nelson Varas‐díaz |
| PRENOMES | Nelson |
| SOBRENOME | Varas‐díaz |
| ASSINATURA | DÍAZ N V |
| AFILIAÇÕES | Florida International University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-4695-1146 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 52 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 66 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 52 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2003 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2026 |
| ÍNDICE H | 6 |
Energy insecurity and health among older adults
This article explores the impact of energy insecurity on chronic disease management among older adults (≥ 50 years) in rural areas of Puerto Rico. It documents their lived experiences during power outages and assesses the role of community-driven solar energy initiatives led by the community-based organization Casa Pueblo in enhancing health resilience in a disaster-prone region. An exploratory-descriptive qualitative approach was employed, incor…
Disaster governance, energy insecurity, and public health in rural Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico, an unincorporated US territory, faces systemic governmental neglect that disproportionately affects public health, particularly in the wake of disasters. Systemic patterns of political corruption, and post-disaster mismanagement, rooted in colonial governance, have shaped PR’s longstanding vulnerability reflecting in frequent power outages and energy delays. This study examines political abandonment feelings in Puerto Rico through th…
The paths we travel
This article reflects on the development of metal music studies over the past three decades by examining three key paradigms that have shaped the field: the Pathologization Paradigm , the Universal Culture Paradigm and the Distorted South Paradigm . The Pathologization Paradigm (1980s–90s) framed metal music as a risk factor for youth, linking it to negative behaviours and reinforcing moral panics. The Universal Culture Paradigm shifted focus to …
Results of a workshop intervention trial to reduce HIV and intersectional stigma among sexual and gender minorities and healthcare workers in the Dominican Republic
Eliminating stigmas that harm sexual and gender minorities (SGM) with HIV is necessary to end the epidemic; however, few validated stigma-reducing interventions for healthcare settings exist, and even fewer have been evaluated in Spanish-speaking contexts. Finding Respect and Ending Stigma around HIV (FRESH) is a healthcare setting stigma-reduction intervention that was adapted and tested to address HIV and intersectional stigmas that harm SGM wi…
Beyond financial incentives
Puerto Rico faces a significant health crisis due to the mass migration of physicians to the United States, exacerbating the challenge of achieving the World Health Organisation's recommended physician-to-population ratio. While economic factors such as higher salaries in the US have been identified as primary drivers, the complexity of this migration wave requires a deeper exploration. This study quantitatively examines the role of push factors,…
Guillermo Bernal (1949–2025)
Memorializes Guillermo Bernal (1949-2025). Bernal was a distinguished clinical psychologist whose work shaped culturally grounded research, training, and practice in Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, and beyond. For 3 decades at the University of Puerto Rico, he served as professor, mentor, and program builder-roles through which he guided generations of psychologists and elevated the visibility of Caribbean-based scholarship. One of Guillermo's most e…
Powering well-being
Stigmas experienced by sexual and gender minority people with HIV in the Dominican Republic
BACKGROUND: As part of a study to test the feasibility and acceptability of the Finding Respect and Ending Stigma around HIV (FRESH) intervention to reduce stigmas and improve HIV viral suppression, our team collected qualitative data from men who have sex with men (MSM) with HIV, transgender women with HIV, and HIV healthcare providers for their perspectives on different stigmas in Dominican Republic healthcare settings. PURPOSE: We aimed to dev…
MMS at ten
This editorial reflects on the achievements, challenges and future aspirations of Metal Music Studies ( MMS ) as it marks a decade of the journal’s contributions to the field. Over the past five years, MMS has significantly expanded its scholarly reach, evidenced by a 25 per cent increase in institutional subscriptions and a tripling of citations. The journal has achieved recognition through indexing in Scopus and the Web of Science, placing it i…
Extremity, Hope, and Sound in the Colonial Experience
They think we wear loincloths
Puerto Rico (PR) is facing an unprecedented healthcare crisis due to accelerating migration of physicians to the mainland United States (US), leaving residents with diminishing healthcare and excessively long provider wait times. While scholars and journalists have identified economic factors driving physician migration, our study analyzes the effects of spatial stigma within the broader context of coloniality as unexamined dimensions of physicia…
On staying
Since 2000, an exodus of Puerto Ricans leaving the island has reduced the local population by almost 20 per cent. One of the migratory waves of greatest concern is that of physicians due to its potential impact on Puerto Rico’s (PR) public health. Strategies to curtail their migration have overlooked the island’s unique cultural and geographic strengths that could encourage physicians to stay. This article, influenced by place attachment theory, …
On leaving
El Sur Distorsionado como un cambio paradigmático para el metal y su estudio
Este escrito recoge lo que fuera la ponencia magistral[1] de apertura de la 5ta Conferencia Bienal de Investigación del International Society for Metal Music Studies, celebrada en el mes de junio de 2022, en Ciudad de México, México. En esta exposición propongo la idea del Sur Distorsionado como un espacio, tanto geográfico como simbólico, donde las personas oprimidas del mundo e impactadas por el proyecto moderno/colonial, utilizan la música met…
Lost in the field
Ethnographic fieldwork is a core method of anthropological, sociological and cultural research, characterized by a lengthy stay in an area or among a social group that is being studied. In the best-case scenario, a researcher becomes an insider through fieldwork. This method, however, has experienced heavy criticism for its exploitative origins and traditions that, among others, maintain a strong focus on Global North gazes and give little back t…
Toda la sangre formando un río
The field of metal music and culture studies is rapidly growing throughout the world. Efforts to document its history and development have emerged via publications in academic journals and edited books. Although this historical documentation of the emergence of an area of study is valuable, it has been geographically laden towards the Global North, and written by English-speaking scholars there. In this article, we aim to inform and balance that …
Red tape, slow emergency, and chronic disease management in post-María Puerto Rico
This paper draws upon the notion of slow emergency as a framework to interpret ethnographic and qualitative findings on the challenges faced by Puerto Ricans with chronic conditions and health sector representatives throughout the island during and after Hurricane María. We conducted participant observation and qualitative interviews with chronic disease patients (n=20) health care providers and administrators (n=42), and policy makers (n=5) from…
Miami in Transformation during the Covid-19 Pandemic
While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been felt around the world, Miami, Florida is one example of the specific and unique ways in which this pandemic is experienced. Drawing on the concepts of visual culture analysis and disaster literature, this article analyses how the COVID-19 pandemic transformed the everyday lives of people living in this subtropical American city. Specifically, this study draws on data collected from a digital part…
Metal music studies in Latin America
Heavy metal music as communal intervention
In this article we aim to address the complex interrelation between metal music and academia through a case study design and analysis. The case study examined is an academic conference held during the past seven years at the University of Jaén, located in Jaén, a province in the south of Spain. This sociocultural project, entitled the ‘Rock and Metal Encounter’ (RME), has taken place in a context of frequent out-migration, with a precarious rural…
HIV and Depression
Major depression is a prevalent psychiatric disorder among people living with HIV (PWH). Major depression symptoms, including suicidal ideation, can hinder clinical care engagement and anti-retroviral treatment adherence. Research suggests that inquiry about major depression symptomatology and suicidal ideation should be standard practice when offering primary care services to PWH. However, studies examining depression and suicidal ideation inqui…
Enacted HIV-Related Stigma’s Association with Anxiety & Depression Among People Living with HIV (PLWH) in Florida
Coping with stress and anxiety
This study explores how the labor practices and experiences post-deportation contribute or exacerbate health vulnerabilities for deported Dominican male. Using an ethnographic approach and drawing from the participant’s narratives, we seek to describe and compare the labor and health vulnerabilities for Dominican deportees in the two Dominican industries where they are most likely to work – call centers and tourism. We argue that these health vul…
An institutional ethnography of prevention and treatment services for substance use disorders in the Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is thought to have significant epidemics of illicit drug use but lacks surveillance and formal analyses of the policy context of drug prevention and treatment services. We conducted an institutional ethnography of 15 drug service organisations in Santo Domingo and Boca Chica, Dominican Republic, to explore barriers and resources for drug abuse prevention and treatment. Here, we present a typology of drug service organisatio…
Incarnating Stigma
HIV/AIDS has been documented as a stigmatizing condition due to its association with sickness, contagion, and bodily death. Still, further attention needs to be given to the role that the body plays in this process of stigmatization. Taking into consideration the visual dimension of the body, we examine the manner in which visual images of the body living with HIV/AIDS contribute to stigmatize those embodied in them. Through an analysis of bodily…
Experiences of Violence Among Transgender Women in Puerto Rico
Violence is a public health concern faced on a daily basis by transgender women. Literature has documented how it adversely affects quality of life and health and in some instances leads to homicide. Considering the lack of research documenting the experiences of violence among transgender women, the objective of this article was to explore manifestations of violence among this population in Puerto Rico. The data presented in this article are par…
Aids-Related Stigma and Social Interaction
People living with HIV/AIDS are stigmatized. Although personal and social consequences of this stigmatization have been documented, research regarding its impact on social interactions is scarce. Latinos, and Puerto Ricans in particular, have voiced concern regarding AIDS stigma. The authors investigated the key role of social interaction in the process of stigmatization through in-depth, semistructured interviews in a sample of 30 Puerto Ricans …
Adaptation of PhotoVoice methodology to promote policy dialog among street-based drug users in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Background Like other epidemics, the current heroin epidemic in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic is a largely invisible and devastating social problem linked to numerous structural and social determinants of health.Methods In this article, we connect a community-based participatory research methodology - "PhotoVoice" - with the theoretical orientation of critical medical anthropology to identify local interpretations of complex social and struct…
Tourism Labor, Embodied Suffering, and the Deportation Regime in the Dominican Republic
In this article, we use syndemic theory to examine socio-structural factors that result in heightened vulnerability to HIV infection and drug addiction among Dominican deportees who survive post-deportation through informal tourism labor. Through an ongoing NIDA-funded ethnographic study of the syndemic of HIV and problematic drug use among men involved in tourism labor in the Dominican Republic, we argue that the legal and political-economic con…
On leaving
The Challenge of a Positive Self‐Image in a Colonial Context
Community psychology and the psychology of liberation provide a framework to analyze colonization. Puerto Rico has always been a colony. This experience has direct negative effects on Puerto Ricans' national identities and their emotions. The purpose of this study was to explore emotions associated with Puerto Rican national identities in a sample of 35 high school students. While participating in 4 focus groups, the youths discussed negative and…
Validating the Factor Structure of the Brief Sense of Community Scale With a Musical Community in Puerto Rico
My Body, My Stigma
AIDS related stigma continues to impact the lives of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) negatively. Although the consequences of stigmatization have been widely documented, certain areas of study need to be further addressed in order to better understand their implications for PLWHA; such is the case of the perceptions of the bodys role in AIDS stigma. A qualitative study was implemented including 30 in-depth interviews of PLWHA in Puerto Rico i…
Guillermo Bernal (1949–2025)
Memorializes Guillermo Bernal (1949-2025). Bernal was a distinguished clinical psychologist whose work shaped culturally grounded research, training, and practice in Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, and beyond. For 3 decades at the University of Puerto Rico, he served as professor, mentor, and program builder-roles through which he guided generations of psychologists and elevated the visibility of Caribbean-based scholarship. One of Guillermo's most e…
Incarnating Stigma
HIV/AIDS has been documented as a stigmatizing condition due to its association with sickness, contagion, and bodily death. Still, further attention needs to be given to the role that the body plays in this process of stigmatization. Taking into consideration the visual dimension of the body, we examine the manner in which visual images of the body living with HIV/AIDS contribute to stigmatize those embodied in them. Through an analysis of bodily…
On staying
Since 2000, an exodus of Puerto Ricans leaving the island has reduced the local population by almost 20 per cent. One of the migratory waves of greatest concern is that of physicians due to its potential impact on Puerto Rico’s (PR) public health. Strategies to curtail their migration have overlooked the island’s unique cultural and geographic strengths that could encourage physicians to stay. This article, influenced by place attachment theory, …
Miami in Transformation during the Covid-19 Pandemic
While the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been felt around the world, Miami, Florida is one example of the specific and unique ways in which this pandemic is experienced. Drawing on the concepts of visual culture analysis and disaster literature, this article analyses how the COVID-19 pandemic transformed the everyday lives of people living in this subtropical American city. Specifically, this study draws on data collected from a digital part…
Compañeros
The Challenge of a Positive Self‐Image in a Colonial Context
Community psychology and the psychology of liberation provide a framework to analyze colonization. Puerto Rico has always been a colony. This experience has direct negative effects on Puerto Ricans' national identities and their emotions. The purpose of this study was to explore emotions associated with Puerto Rican national identities in a sample of 35 high school students. While participating in 4 focus groups, the youths discussed negative and…
Aids-Related Stigma and Social Interaction
People living with HIV/AIDS are stigmatized. Although personal and social consequences of this stigmatization have been documented, research regarding its impact on social interactions is scarce. Latinos, and Puerto Ricans in particular, have voiced concern regarding AIDS stigma. The authors investigated the key role of social interaction in the process of stigmatization through in-depth, semistructured interviews in a sample of 30 Puerto Ricans …
The emotional aspect of Aids stigma among health professionals in Puerto Rico
People who live with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Puerto Rico have been a vulnerable group for stigmatization. Emotions have been a widely ignored issue in stigma-related research. Emotions influence the way people establish their relationship with their environment, relate to each other and assign social meanings to who and what surrounds them. Therefore, emotions have a vital role in the stigmatization of PLWHA. The main objective of this study was to e…
Development and validation of a culturally appropriate HIV/Aids Stigma Scale for Puerto Rican health professionals in training
HIV/AIDS stigma continues to be an obstacle for primary and secondary HIV prevention. Its consequences for the lives of people living with the disease have been well documented and continue to be of great concern for health care providers and researchers in the field. These consequences are worsened when such stigma emanates from health professionals, as this can limit access to services. One of the main obstacles for HIV/AIDS stigma research in …
Religion and HIV/Aids stigma
HIV/AIDS stigma continues to be a barrier for prevention efforts. Its detrimental effects have been documented among people living with HIV/AIDS and encompass loss of social support and depression. When it is manifested by health professionals, it can lead to sub-optimal services. Although strides have been made to document the effects of HIV/AIDS stigma, much needs to be done in order to understand the structural factors that can foster it. Such…
Estigma hacia problemas de salud mental entre profesionales de la salud en adiestramiento en Puerto Rico
El estigma hacia personas viven con problemas de salud mental ha sido identificado como una barrera en la búsqueda y adherencia a tratamiento. Según la literatura, los/as profesionales de la salud manifiestan actitudes estigmatizantes hacia esta población. Los estudios en Puerto Rico que documenten esta problemática son escasos. El objetivo de este estudio fue: (1) explorar los niveles del estigma que un grupo de Profesionales de la Salud en Adie…
On your knees and pray! The role of religion in the development of a metal scene in the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico
Heavy metal music is simultaneously reflective of, and reactive to, the cultural underpinnings of the spaces in which it is created. Wallach et al. have emphasized the need to understand metal music outside of Anglo-American contexts and culture. Although the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico seems like an unlikely scenario for the emergence of a metal scene, it has in fact existed via underground means for the past 25 years. Due to the Island’s st…
Compañeros
My Body, My Stigma
AIDS related stigma continues to impact the lives of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) negatively. Although the consequences of stigmatization have been widely documented, certain areas of study need to be further addressed in order to better understand their implications for PLWHA; such is the case of the perceptions of the bodys role in AIDS stigma. A qualitative study was implemented including 30 in-depth interviews of PLWHA in Puerto Rico i…
Qualitative Contributions to a Randomized Controlled Trial Addressing HIV/Aids-Stigma in Medical Students
Specialized training for healthcare professionals (HCP) in order to reduce HIV/AIDS related stigma must be part of a public health model for HIV/AIDS. Tested interventions to reduce HIV/AIDS related stigma among HCP have been mostly absent from these efforts. A qualitative approach was used to assess stigma reduction within a traditional randomized controlled design in order to better understand how our current stigma intervention worked and was …
Experiencias de Hombres Puertorriqueños Ante el Estigma Relacionado con el VIH/Sida (Puerto Rican Men’s Experiences with HIV/Aids Stigma)
Los discursos sobre las masculinidades pueden tener implicaciones adversas sobre la salud de los hombres aumentando su vulnerabilidad a ciertas enfermedades, reduciendo su expectativa de vida y disminuyendo su disposición para solicitar servicios de salud. Estos discursos sociales permean el proceso de estigmatización hacia el VIH/SIDA, afectándolos de manera particular. El objetivo de este estudio fue explorar la intersección entre discursos sob…
Factores socio-estructurales y el estigma hacia el VIH/Sida
El estigma relacionado al VIH/SIDA continúa afectando la prestación de servicios de salud y el bienestar físico y mental de las personas con VIH/SIDA (PVS). Recientemente la literatura científica ha señalado la importancia de comprender las manifestaciones de estigma más allá de las interacciones individuales. Por tal razón, investigaciones recientes en y fuera de Puerto Rico enfatizan la importancia de entender cómo factores socio-estructurales …
Trans-Migrations
This research describes the context and health consequences of migration/mobility that accompany the search for gender transitioning procedures among Puerto Rican transgender/transsexual women. We term migration/mobility for gender transitioning trans-migration. We conducted an ethnographic study focusing on trans-migration, including participant observation and semi-structured interviews with 39 transgender/transsexual women in Puerto Rico. Our …
The role of emotions in the reduction of HIV/Aids stigma among physicians in training
Scientific literature has systematically documented the negative effects of social stigma for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). HIV/AIDS stigma has the potential to negatively impact self-care strategies for those already affected, and simultaneously hinder prevention efforts to deter the emergence of new infections. When health professionals manifest these negative attitudes access to quality health-care and prevention strategies can be serio…
Intersections and evolution of ‘Butch-trans’ categories in Puerto Rico
Public health research among transgender populations globally has primarily focused on HIV/AIDS. However, trans men remain outside of this conceptual framework, with distinct but overlapping social contexts and needs. In Puerto Rico (PR), the trans men population has remained largely hidden within the 'butch' lesbian community. The objective of this article is to document the identity construction of trans men and 'buchas' (local term to refer to…
Validating the Factor Structure of the Brief Sense of Community Scale With a Musical Community in Puerto Rico
Beyond negative attitudes
HIV/AIDS related stigma remains a major global health issue with detrimental consequences for the treatment and health of people with HIV/AIDS (PWHA), especially when manifested by health professionals. Research on HIV/AIDS stigma has successfully documented negative attitudes towards PWHA among health professionals. However, fewer studies have examined how stigma is manifested behaviorally by health professionals during clinical interactions. Th…
Experiences of Violence Among Transgender Women in Puerto Rico
Violence is a public health concern faced on a daily basis by transgender women. Literature has documented how it adversely affects quality of life and health and in some instances leads to homicide. Considering the lack of research documenting the experiences of violence among transgender women, the objective of this article was to explore manifestations of violence among this population in Puerto Rico. The data presented in this article are par…
The social context of hormone and silicone injection among Puerto Rican transwomen
This paper draws on ethnographic, qualitative and survey data with transwomen in Puerto Rico to examine the social and political-economic context of lay injection with hormone and silicone - common practices within this community. We describe specific practices of hormone and silicone injection, the actors that govern them, the market for the sale and distribution of syringes and the networks of lay specialists who provide services to a populatio…
Testing the Efficacy of a Web-Based Parent-Adolescent Sexual Communication Intervention Among Puerto Ricans
This randomized controlled trial tested the efficacy of a Web-based intervention to increase sexual communication between parents and adolescents. Parent/adolescent dyads (n = 660) were recruited from communities in the San Juan area and randomly assigned to the Cuídalos sexual communication or physical activity program. Parent assessments were obtained preintervention and at 3-, 6-, and 12-month follow-up. Parents in the experimental group repor…
Adaptation of PhotoVoice methodology to promote policy dialog among street-based drug users in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Background Like other epidemics, the current heroin epidemic in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic is a largely invisible and devastating social problem linked to numerous structural and social determinants of health.Methods In this article, we connect a community-based participatory research methodology - "PhotoVoice" - with the theoretical orientation of critical medical anthropology to identify local interpretations of complex social and struct…
Tourism Labor, Embodied Suffering, and the Deportation Regime in the Dominican Republic
In this article, we use syndemic theory to examine socio-structural factors that result in heightened vulnerability to HIV infection and drug addiction among Dominican deportees who survive post-deportation through informal tourism labor. Through an ongoing NIDA-funded ethnographic study of the syndemic of HIV and problematic drug use among men involved in tourism labor in the Dominican Republic, we argue that the legal and political-economic con…
An institutional ethnography of prevention and treatment services for substance use disorders in the Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is thought to have significant epidemics of illicit drug use but lacks surveillance and formal analyses of the policy context of drug prevention and treatment services. We conducted an institutional ethnography of 15 drug service organisations in Santo Domingo and Boca Chica, Dominican Republic, to explore barriers and resources for drug abuse prevention and treatment. Here, we present a typology of drug service organisatio…
An ethnographic study of ‘touristic escapism’ and health vulnerability among Dominican male tourism workers
Health research on tourism has expanded over the past two decades, focusing on understanding how the social, economic, and political configuration of tourism zones might contribute to health vulnerabilities among the diverse populations that interact in these areas. While there are few studies of HIV and drug use interactions in the region, research has indicated that these two outcomes are often interwoven in tourism zones, potentially producing…
Introduction to the special issue
This introduction presents a special issue of Global Public Health with a collection of articles that offer multidisciplinary perspectives on HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean. Since the 1990s, poverty, marginalisation, and social stigma have been strong foci of much social science research on HIV/AIDS in the region. These three interrelated phenomena have been offered as explanatory factors contributing to the high prevalence of cases observed in this r…
Sociology (33 obras) · Medicine (32 obras) · Psychology (27 obras) · Political science (24 obras) · Psychiatry (23 obras) · Family medicine (16 obras) · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions (16 obras) · Geography (12 obras) · Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV (12 obras) · Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (11 obras)