Search

Early in the epidemic, HIV infection and AIDS were rarely diagnosed in women. Today, the HIV/AIDS epidemic represents a growing and persistent health threat to women, especially young women. The purpose of the current study was to conduct an international study with female undergraduate college students to assess knowledge and attitudes about HIV/AIDS, current and future sexual behaviors, and condom use self-efficacy. Participants included several convenience samples of female undergraduate college students from three public universities in the southern region of the United States (n = 112), a large public university in Australia (n = 66), and a public university in Hong Kong (n = 93). This research study utilizes a quantitative survey research design. Seventy-seven percent of American women and 66% of Australian women were sexually active compared with only 21% of Chinese women (χ2 = 67.74, p < .001). Of the sexually active women, 86% of Australian women reported regular use of safer sex practices during the past year compared with 69% of American women and 20% of Chinese women (χ2 = 8.9, p < .05). Although the sample as a whole scored generally high on HIV/AIDS awareness, it is not reflected in safe sex practices or intentions for future safe sex practices. Future studies should focus on further understanding the social, cultural, and psychological factors that hamper safe sex practices among this population as well as successful intervention strategies to overcome these barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses African Americans, their being representative of one-third of all cumulative AIDS cases in the U. S., and how prevention and treatment have continued to be problematic because of a general distrust of mainstream social services. Traditional middle class European American intervention treatment models do not consider the barriers to prevention and intervention facing African Americans. Research has emphasized the need for promoting prosocial motives, including re-entry into a moral community, renewed spirituality, self-esteem, and establishment of one's role in the family.

African American women involved in high-risk, substance use-related behaviors are affected by extremely high rates of HIV infection. While research has demonstrated that HIV is preventable, in order for prevention efforts to be successful in reducing disparities, perceptions of African American women who use crack cocaine need to be taken into account. This qualitative study presents results of eleven focus groups with eighty-nine African American women respondents presenting their perceptions of service needs and preferences for service delivery. The results indicate two important findings for social service providers: the respondents' lack of a perceived need for HIV prevention services as a spontaneously identified need, and respondents' desires for more basic services such as childcare, safe shelter, basic necessities, and especially substance abuse treatment before they could be approached about HIV prevention services. The findings are relevant for developing gender- and culture-specific prevention strategies to reduce the spread of HIV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is estimated that approximately half of all new HIV infections are related to injection drug use (Holmberg, 1996), as used syringes can harbor blood with traces of viable HIV for over 4 weeks (Abdala, Stephens, Griffith, & Heimer, 1999). Due to this concern, Syringe Exchange Programs (SEPs) and other related HIV prevention programs for active injection drug users have been developed and expanded in many urban areas of the United States over the past 15 years. Based on the Harm Reduction model of service provision, SEPs seek to reduce the harm associated with injection drug use through the elimination of the primary means by which HIV risk is spread, the shared syringe. Despite extensive research supporting the efficacy of SEPs, significant barriers exist to the delivery of these services, as SEPs are often viewed as being outside the traditional continuum of care for HIV/AIDS and/or substance abuse. All social workers involved in HIV/AIDS services should be aware of these programs and continued expansion and integration with other HIV/AIDS services should be a priority. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents information on the efforts of a organization in AIDS control. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, the Xchange Point is a nonprofit community-based AIDS services organization founded in 1996 as a street-based outreach and SEP. Trained community health outreach workers have conducted street-based, roving outreach in four areas of Cleveland on a weekly basis since the program's inception. A substance abuse services has been the rise of the harm-reduction model and non- abstinence-based services. Harm reduction is based on the suppositions that drug use will continue to exist for most users and that safer use is always possible. The first syringe exchange program (SEP) was established in the U.S. in 1988 in Tacoma, Washington. There is strong evidence supporting the effectiveness of SEPs with regard to decreased HIV- infection rates, decreased incidence of sharing of injection equipment, and increased frequency of the disinfection of injection equipment.