Abstract
BackgroundFor adolescents living with HIV (ALWH), school may be the most important but understudied social sphere related to HIV stigma. Teachers are role models in the classroom and within the community, and their attitudes and behavior towards people living with HIV may have critical psychosocial and treatment ramifications. Altering teachers’ knowledge, attitudes and beliefs (K/A/B) about HIV could reduce the stigmatizing content within their teaching, classrooms and school, improving the environment for ALWH.MethodsWe developed a one-day teacher training module to enrich teacher K/A/B that included lecture presentations, HIV films and educational animation, structured instructions for teacher role play scenarios, and a question-and-answer session facilitated by a trained ALWH peer educator. We also conducted key informant interviews with education sector subject matter experts (SMEs), including education officers, county commissioners and head teachers to review and provide feedback on the teacher training module.ResultsWe assembled an adolescent community advisory board and recruited 50 SMEs to review the training module and provide feedback. All SME participants stressed the importance and need for interventions to reduce stigma in the classroom, highlighting their own experiences observing stigmatizing behaviors in the community. The participants perceived the training as culturally relevant and easy to understand and had minor suggestions for improvement, including using image-based resources and brighter colors for ease of reading. All participants thought that the training should be expanded outside of the schools, as all people in a community have a role in the reduction of HIV stigma, and offered suggestions for other settings for implementation.ConclusionData from interviews with education sector stakeholders demonstrate that our process for developing a culturally appropriate multi-media intervention to reduce HIV stigma in the schools was feasible.
Highlights
For adolescents living with HIV (ALWH), school may be the most important but understudied social sphere related to HIV stigma
HIV- and AIDS-related stigma (HIV stigma) shapes every aspect of care management for adolescents living with HIV (ALWH), including medication adherence, decisions about HIV disclosure, mental health and how they grow to take responsibility for their own care [1]
The subject matter expert (SME) agreed that the module sections were effective in communicating the intended messages, as the films depicting HIV stigma experienced by youth were a true reflection of their everyday life, the animations removed potential discrimination from real-life stories and the booklet identified common myths and misconceptions
Summary
For adolescents living with HIV (ALWH), school may be the most important but understudied social sphere related to HIV stigma. Youth may experience HIV stigma related to their own status or to the HIV status of a family member [1], and may affect treatment outcomes and academic performance, student-teacher relationships, and peer networks. In Kenya, both adolescents and their caregivers report that HIV stigma in schools negatively affects their retention in care, adherence to medications, mental health, and beliefs about themselves [1, 12]. Do school-based experiences of HIV stigma directly impact ALWH, but stigmatized content and negative teacher attitudes shape the beliefs of their peers regarding HIV and its treatment [13]. Adolescents spend most of their waking hours in school, yet there are few studies of intervention strategies to reduce HIV stigma in this setting
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call