HIV Prevention Revisited: African American Women's Response to Current Community-Based Interventions

Abstract

To reverse increasing rates of HIV among African American women, intervention strategies need to be informed by their perceptions of HIV and HIV risk, and their recommendations for enhancing current interventions. In this focus group study, a community sample of African American women (n = 26) was asked to speak to these topics. Researchers conducted content analyses of focus group transcripts using Freire's conscientization theory and Rosenstock's Health Belief Model to articulate common themes from participants' responses. Findings indicate that most participants were well-informed about their risk for contracting HIV, but saw more barriers than benefits in engaging in preventive health behaviors, and believed that their health, like the integrity of their environment, was largely beyond their control. Participants also saw an urgent need to step up intervention efforts with younger women, whom they believed were at high risk for contracting HIV. Discussion includes implications for policy and practice.

KEYWORDS:

• African American
• HIV
• prevention
• risk factors
• women

Acknowledgments

The research for this article was supported in part through a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (grant 5R01DA15376-5 through the Child Welfare Drug Abuse and Intergenerational Risk Research Center). Logistic support was provided by the Center for Human Services Research, School of Social Welfare, University at Albany, State University of New York. For his help in coordinating with the local agencies through whom data were collected, the authors are also indebted to Dan O'Connell of the AIDS Institute, New York State Department of Health.