Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

John Yannessa, PhD¹, Michael Reece, PhD², Stephen Karpiak, PhD³, and Alice Lindeman, PhD, RD². (1) School of Education/Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Coastal Carolina University, P.O. Box 261954, Conway, SC 29528, (843) 349-6460, yannessa@coastal.edu, (2) Dept of Applied Health Science, Indiana University-Bloomington, 1025 E. 7th St, HPER 116, Bloomington, IN 47405, (3) AIDS Community Research Initiative of America, 230 W. 38th Street, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10018

Infection with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) continues to be a significant public health issue in the United States. Allopathic medicine, specifically Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART), has significantly reduced the mortality rate associated with HIV infection in the United States. But these medicines have negative side effects, causing people living with HIV to seek other approaches to alleviate negative side effects, such as choosing Complementary or Alternative sources of medical care. With the documented decrease in time spent with a physician, nurses may play a critical role in a patient's choice of CAM use. But little published research has examined factors related to HIV nurse referral to sources of CAM. Data were collected from 283 nurses who provide care to people living with HIV. Chi-Square tests and hierarchical logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the extent to which the addition of variables related to geographic region of nursing practice, and CAM awareness, belief in the efficacy of CAM, and personal use of CAM would enhance the predictability of models that included demographic variables. Based on the results of these analyses, several significant logistic regression models were developed. Results of this study indicate while some traditional demographics such as higher education and income are predictive of nurse referral of people living with HIV to CAM, belief in the efficacy of CAM and personal use of CAM therapies play an important role as well. These results may be important as health professionals seek to understand how health beliefs impact health behaviors.

Learning Objectives: Learning Objectives

• By the end of the session, participants will identify factors that are strong predictors of an HIV nurse’s referral of patients to CAM practitioners.
• Participants will be able to articulate the important role of a nurse’s belief in the particular therapy.
• Participants will recognize the increasingly important role that nurses play in the healthcare decisions of their patients living with HIV.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Alternative Medicine/Therapies

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered