In the United States between 1991 and 2001, there was an increase of over 848% in new AIDS cases in African American women fifty and older. This increase is due in part to changes in reporting. Because of the startling statistics and scarcity of studies in this population, this study examines the HIV prevention needs of two groups of African American women over fifty, injection drug users and non injection drug users. Focus groups were used to collect data on general HIV knowledge, experience with HIV prevention, psychosocial factors, drug involvement, and risks and barriers to HIV infection and prevention. Data was also collected through a survey that gathered information on demographics, sources of HIV information, HIV testing and risks including knowledge of risk, belief of risk and risk behaviors. This study found that lack of education and misconceptions regarding disease transmission act as a barrier for prevention efforts; a need for inclusive HIV prevention efforts such as multi-generational in-home programs, multi-family programs and the incorporation of prevention messages with existing health services; a need for skills building, condom negotiation skills and self-empowerment. Effective methods suggested were techniques that align with African American culture and heritage such as storytelling, inclusion of family and community. In order to generalize findings from this study, future research must include a representative sample of African American women 50 years and older such as churchgoers, sorority women, health conscious women, ex offenders, past injection drug users, infected or affected women and newly single women. The findings of this study are significant to public health research because they add to a growing body of knowledge regarding the HIV prevention needs of this group, can be used to design prevention messages for the population from which they were gathered, and most importantly provide insight to what a subpopulation of this group views as effective prevention methods. Recommendations for future research are also provided for federal government agencies, state public health agencies, community organizations, the family structure, HIV service groups, physicians, universities and researchers.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-04142005-184855 |
| Date | 14 June 2005 |
| Creators | Jones, Ina Ananda |
| Contributors | Dr. Valire Carr Copeland, Dr. Martha Ann Terry, Dr. Anthony Silvestre |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04142005-184855/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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