The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #40392

J. DeWitt Webster, MPH, CHES¹, Collins O. Airhihenbuwa, MPH, PhD², Joseph Kivilu, PhD³, Dan Odallo, MA³, and Bunmi Makinwa, MA³. (1) Department of Biobehavioral Health, The Pennsylvania State University, 315 Health and Human Development East, University Park, PA 16802, 814 863 4727, dewittw@psu.edu, (2) Professor of Biobehavioral Health, Penn State University, 304 Health and Human Development, University Park, PA 16802, (3) Inter Country Team of East and Southern Africa, Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, Metropark Building, 351 Schoeman Street, P.O. Box 6541, Pretoria, 001, South Africa

The purpose of this study is to address socio-cultural and contextual findings of the Mpumalanga Female Condom Evaluation Project. UNAIDS/Pretoria initiated the evaluation in response to positive feedback regarding female condom use from health workers and community members. Three hundred eighteen male and female community members completed questionnaires about religious and community sexual norms, communication dynamics, gender relations, and condom negotiation and use. Focus groups of men and women accessed qualitative information not learned from the questionnaires. Fifty one percent female and 25% of male respondents stated that they (or the female partner in male case) always used the female condom during sex. In addition, 73 percent stated that it was appropriate for women to initiate female condom use with partners. These and other key findings were applied to the 5 domains of the UNAIDS/Penn State Communications Framework for HIV/AIDS (government policy, SES, gender relations, spirituality and culture). However a more rigorous investigation of the application is needed to better assess socio-cultural and contextual factors. An adapted cultural model using the UNAIDS Framework and Airhihenbuwa’s PEN-3 Model, which addresses health from a cultural context, will be employed. The adapted cultural framework has implications for HIV prevention efforts worldwide.

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