276149
Role of faith-based settings in African American adolescent HIV prevention
Monday, November 4, 2013
: 9:15 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Mamie Carlson, MPH,
Department of Community and Behavioral Health, University of Iowa College of Public Health, Iowa City, IA
Tamara Taggart, MPH, PhD,
Department of Health Behavior, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, NC
Alexandra Lightfoot, EdD,
Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Evidence-based practice in community settings is increasingly the focus of HIV prevention efforts (Norton et al. 2009; NIH, 2008). One promising community resource for African American adolescent HIV prevention is faith-based organizations (FBOs) (Moore et al. 2010; Francis & Liverpool, 2009; Coyne-Beasley & Schoenback, 2000). FBOs are credible and respected in the African American community, offer youth development programs, and support religiosity, a demonstrated protective factor for youth risk behavior (Francis & Liverpool, 2009). However, factors such as religious stigma of HIV-related risk behaviors, discomfort discussing sexual topics, and hesitance in taking an active role in responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic often limit the scope and effectiveness of FBO prevention efforts (Sutton et al., 2009; Coyne-Beasley & Schoenbach, 2000). This presentation describes findings from the qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews, which capture the experiences and perceptions of 20 African American faith-based leaders. These findings highlight the multiple roles that African American faith-based organizations and faith leaders can play in HIV prevention in addition to facilitators and barriers to implementing HIV prevention in African American FBOs. Facilitators included FBOs' commitment to the community, church networks and resources, leadership awareness, church family connectedness, and existing youth mentorship missions and programs. Barriers included silence and stigma around HIV and limited experience delivering HIV prevention. The findings also suggest that African American FBOs and faith-based leaders are uniquely placed to be instrumental resources in African American communities for adolescent HIV prevention and offer research and practice implications for HIV prevention in these settings.
Learning Areas:
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Diversity and culture
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related research
Learning Objectives:
Describe the perspectives and experiences of African American faith-leaders as it relates to HIV prevention in the Black Church. Describe community-based participatory research and how it can be applied to better understand barriers and facilitators to HIV prevention implementation in faith-based settings. Explain how to engage faith-leaders in community-based participatory research to identify targets for African American adolescent HIV prevention.
Keyword(s): African American, Community-Based Health Promotion
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am an Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa, College of Public Health whose research has focused on adolescent health risk behaviors, particularly among African American youth, for the past 10 years. I have published and presented on this and related topics. I also have experience in community-based participatory research and conducting and supervising evidenced-based HIV prevention programs for African American youth.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines,
and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed
in my presentation.
