The HIV epidemic among African-American women in the United States is driven primarily by drug use and the accompany high-risk sexual behaviors. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has sponsored several multi-year projects which have focused on reaching out-of-treatment minority women for HIV risk reduction interventions. One project targeted women substance abusers in the Southwest, including two cities in Arizona enrolling more Hispanics and Native American women. Two projects reached women in the Southeast who were more specifically crack abusers. Both of these projects emphasized a woman and race-specific community-based intervention. The first of these projects is located in Atlanta, Georgia and will present on process and outcomes, as well as unintended outcomes. The third project specifically targeted African-American crack-using women within the urban areas surrounding Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina with an Afro-centric empowerment intervention. These projects are now in the final follow-up and analysis stage and each will present findings from their planned aims. Outcomes that include drug use, sexual risk, homelessness, sexual abuse, and employment will be discussed. A final discussion will review the importance of merging not only qualitative and quantitative methodology in developing appropriate gender and cultural interventions, but how many already “stressed” communities support these interventions that impact the overall health outcomes of their communities. See overhill.health.org/asf1/1Events/01-1022APHAAtRiskPart1-56.asx
Learning Objectives: 1. Participants will begin to understand the specific behaviors which place minority women at risk for HIV. 2. Participants will be shown specific examples of effective interventions that are women-focused and culturally specific. 3. Participants will learn about the components that are essential in community-based projects.
Keywords: , HIV Risk Behavior
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.