Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #116365

Mahmooda Khaliq, MHS, Diana DuBois, MPH, MIA, and Nathaly Herrel, MSc. Minnesota International Health Volunteers (MIHV), 122 West Franklin Avenue, Suite #522, Minneapolis, MN 55404-2480, 612-230-3251, mkhaliq@mihv.org

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of African-born community members living with HIV/AIDS in the state of Minnesota since the mid-1990s. Although only 1% of Minnesota's inhabitants are African-born, they are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS, as 21% of all HIV infections in Minnesota occur in African-born individuals.

To prevent the spread of HIV within Minnesota's African born communities, it is imperative to address the stigma, denial, and fear surrounding this issue. In order to develop effective HIV/AIDS education and outreach within the African-born community, specifically the Somali community, a series of four focus groups with 29 participants was conducted. The goal of the focus groups was to better understand the beliefs and perceptions surrounding HIV/AIDS, gather knowledge about HIV/AIDS transmission, prevention, programs and services, determine the most appropriate format for delivering effective HIV/AIDS messages, and to better understand the influence of gender roles and religion on beliefs about HIV/AIDS.

The focus group discussions illustrated that societal and cultural factors play a significant role in how Somalis interact with people living with HIV/AIDS and what strategies they use to prevent HIV/AIDS. Although much stigma exists, the Somali community is eager to learn more about the disease and effective methods to counter its spread. Recommendations for program development and implementation include: education targeted to youth, development of health education materials for men and women, discussion on modes of transmission, education and access to testing facilities, and education of health care providers.

Learning Objectives:

• List 3 commonly held beliefs that are prevalent among Somali refugees toward people living with HIV/AIDS.
• Describe how focus groups can be used to identify programmatic recommendations for refugee populations that want to create HIV/AIDS programs.
• Develop an HIV/AIDS prevention and education program for Somali immigrant and refugee communities residing in the United States.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Refugees

Related Web page: www.mihv.org/pdf/AIDS.pdf

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.