Background: As part of qualitative research for developing a culturally sensitive and developmentally appropriate videotape-based HIV prevention intervention for heterosexual African- American men, six focus groups were conducted with thirty African-American men to determine their perceptions of AIDS as a threat to the African-American community, characteristics of past situations that have placed African Americans at risk for HIV infection, their personal high risk behaviors, and suggestions on how HIV intervention videotapes could be produced to achieve maximum levels of interest among African-American men in HIV training programs.
Methods: The groups took place at a low-income housing project in Houston, Texas, a major epicenter for HIV/AIDS. Each group was audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using theme and domain analysis.
Results: The results revealed that low-income African-American men perceive HIV/AIDS as a threat to their community and they have placed themselves at risk of HIV infection based on unsafe sex practices, substance abuse, and lack of knowledge. They also cite lack of income to purchase condoms as a barrier to safe sex practice. They believe that HIV training programs should address these risk factors and that videotapes developed for prevention should offer a sensationalized look at the effects of HIV/AIDS on affected persons. They further believe that programs should be held in African-American communities and should include condoms to facilitate reduction of risk behaviors.
Conclusions: The results indicate that the respondents taking part in this study believe that HIV and AIDS are continued threats to the African-American community because of sexual risk taking behavior, that is, failure to use condoms. Further, African-American men are having sex without condoms when having sex with women often when they are under the influence of alcohol or other mind-altering substances and they are having sex with men while incarcerated and become infected and once released resume unprotected sexual relations with women. According to the men, substance abuse is an important part of the problem of HIV in the African-American community. This is in keeping with research that shows that drug use, especially crack cocaine, is linked to sexual risk taking among African Americans and to increased likelihood of becoming infected with other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) including HIV. Thus, interventions for men should address condom use, condom availability, skills for using condoms, eroticizing condoms and substance abuse prevention. Men in the present study also strongly recommended that HIV/AIDS videotaped messages should include footage of the sensational effects of the disease.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-5-3 | DOI Listing |
AIDS Educ Prev
December 2024
Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Young Black gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men who are living with HIV are at an increased risk of experiencing poor mental health due to their exposures to intersectional stigma and discrimination, but often do not seek traditional mental health care. We qualitatively explored conceptualizations of mental health through interviews with 40 participants and analyzed our data using a phenomenology-informed approach. Participants conceptualized mental health as having inward-facing (cultivation of a healthy relationship with oneself, maintaining a peaceful state of mind, lack of depressed mood) and outward-facing components (goal-oriented behavior, resilient coping mechanisms).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Acquir Immune Defic Syndr
December 2024
Division of HIV Prevention, National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia.
Background: Previous studies have estimated preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use among persons with commercial health insurance and Medicaid. However, data are lacking regarding PrEP use among those with Medicare.
Methods: Using a previously developed algorithm, we estimated the number of Medicare beneficiaries (MBs) with fee-for-service (FFS) claims who were prescribed PrEP from 2014 to 2021.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev
December 2024
University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States.
Background: African American (AA) men are at increased risk of prostate cancer (PCa) compared to men of European ancestry (EA). Biological mechanisms, including epigenetics, likely contribute to this disparity, but prior studies have been limited by sample size, candidate gene approaches, or lack of epigenome-wide DNA methylation (DNAm) data.
Methods: To improve our understanding of these mechanisms, we compared DNAm features distinguishing tumor and paired histologically benign tissue from 76 AA and 75 EA PCa patients.
BMC Health Serv Res
December 2024
Department of Learning Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
Background: Black men are more likely to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (T2D) compared to non-Hispanic White men, especially those over 55 years of age. Although there is ample evidence around the efficacy of peer-led diabetes self-management and support (PLDSMS) programs in improving diabetes health outcomes, Black men living with T2D experience several barriers to meaningful participation in peer-led programs and program developers face barriers to implementation. This qualitative study aimed to identify perspectives from collaborators on barriers and facilitators that impact the implementation of a PLDSMS intervention for older Black men with T2D.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!