AIDS Education Programs Research Articles

Ethnicity and Sex Differences in University Students' Knowledge of AIDS, Fear of AIDS, and Homophobia

One hundred ninety students at a southwestern urban university participated in a study that investigated ethnicity and sex differences in AIDS-related variables: AIDS knowledge, fear of AIDS, and homophobia. Analysis of data (ANOVA) revealed that African-Americans had significantly lower scores on measures of AIDS knowledge and were significantly more homophobic, compared to Caucasian students. African-Americans also had lower average AIDS knowledge scores than Hispanics. Women had a lower fear of AIDS than men. Relationships between homophobia and fear of AIDS on the one hand, and AIDS knowledge on the other hand, were low and counter-intuitive for African-Americans and Hispanics. This suggests the need for differential efforts in AIDS education programs targeting these groups.

A program of acquired immune deficiency syndrome education for nurses in Romania

After the fall of the communist government in Romania, many children were found to be human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected. The majority of these children were abandoned and currently live in orphanages. The children have been cared for on a day-to-day basis by nurses with little general nursing education and even less HIV education. The Romanian-American Pediatric AIDS Education and Clinical Research Program was established at Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine in May, 1996 to aid in the education of Romanian nurses. Syllabi developed by the U.S. nursing team were initially piloted in three pediatric HIV centers in Romania in July, 1997. Since that time, two annual nursing symposia have been held offering topics on general pediatrics and HIV-related content. The purpose of this article is to describe a program of HIV education for nurses in Romania.

A program of acquired immune deficiency syndrome education for nurses in Romania.

After the fall of the communist government in Romania, many children were found to be human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected. The majority of these children were abandoned and currently live in orphanages. The children have been cared for on a day-to-day basis by nurses with little general nursing education and even less HIV education. The Romanian-American Pediatric AIDS Education and Clinical Research Program was established at Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine in May, 1996 to aid in the education of Romanian nurses. Syllabi developed by the U.S. nursing team were initially piloted in three pediatric HIV centers in Romania in July, 1997. Since that time, two annual nursing symposia have been held offering topics on general pediatrics and HIV-related content. The purpose of this article is to describe a program of HIV education for nurses in Romania.

Christian Religious Leaders' Knowledge and State of Preparedness for AIDS Education in an Urban Area in Nigeria

An exploratory survey assessed Christian religious leaders' knowledge, state of preparedness, and current level of involvement in AIDS education in Ibadan, Nigeria, with a view to providing baseline information upon which AIDS education programs can be developed for churches. A total of 306 Christian leaders, who were selected from half (78) of the churches in Ibadan through multi-stage sampling, were interviewed. In addition, the church records kept by the Christian leaders were reviewed to document AIDS educational activities carried out by the churches. Results showed that almost all (97.7%) of the Christian leaders have heard about AIDS, with the mass media being the primary source of information (78.3%). Despite a high level of awareness, only 6 percent of the Christian leaders correctly identified HIV as the causative agent of AIDS. Knowledge regarding unprotected sexual intercourse with multiple partners as a way by which the virus is transmitted was high (88.3%). Only 37.8% of the leaders had ever carried out any AIDS educational activity in their respective churches, while the majority (62.2%) had not. The preaching of sermons (38.9%), presentation of seminar papers at workshops (21.2%), and counseling (15.8%) were the main educational programs carried out by the Christian leaders. Of those who have heard about AIDS but had not educated their congregation, a lack of basic knowledge on the disease was cited as the principal barrier (27%) to action. However, a majority (79.4%) are favorably disposed toward playing a pro-active role in AIDS educational programs in Nigeria. The implications of these findings for AIDS control efforts are discussed.

The Effects of Information About AIDS Risk and Self‐Efficacy on Women's Intentions to Engage in AIDS Preventive Behavior1

Female college students' perceived vulnerability to AIDS and their perceived self‐efficacy regarding AIDS preventive behavior (APB), were manipulated in a 2 × 2 design. Consistent with protection motivation theory (e. g., Rogers. 1983), the results showed that intention to engage in APB was highest among subjects who received information that their risk of getting infected with HIV was high, and who experienced relatively high feelings of self‐efficacy. These subjects also seemed least likely to engage in denial of their AIDS risk. The implications of these findings for AIDS education programs are discussed.

AIDS/HIV and social work students in Delhi, India: an exploratory study of knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors

This is an exploratory study designed to assess the level of knowledge about AIDS/HIV among social work students to determine their attitudes toward people with AIDS and homosexuals and to assess their perception of personal risk of contracting AIDS. The sample consisted of 284 social work students who were enrolled in graduate programs at two major universities in Delhi India during 1993-94. The information was collected anonymously using a questionnaire containing 45 items which included a 20-item knowledge test and 5 Likert type response scale. The results revealed that the students were particularly deficient in their knowledge about crucial areas of AIDS prevention. Although they were quite informed about AIDS they did not have adequate knowledge considering their focal position in the development and implementation of health care services to meet the social and psychological needs of AIDS-infected individuals. The attitude of the students was moderately positive toward people infected with AIDS but highly negative toward people who engaged in homosexual acts. The results of this study indicate the need for developing AIDS education programs that target men and that go beyond traditional approaches that provide one-shot information. The programs should prepare social work students by giving them a perspective that emphasizes males responsibility in contraception. They should also focus on the specific behavioral skills of men in dealing with embarrassment by making actual condom purchase a priority.

Perceived responsibility for disease onset affects HIV/AIDS Education

Ninety-nine participants were assigned to one of three experimental conditions in which they viewed an AIDS education videotape that systematically manipulated whether or not the educator would be perceived as responsible for HIV infection. Participants were administered pre and post-video affect measures, and an HlV/AIDS knowledge test after watching the video. Participants who viewed the speaker who acquired HIV through a blood transfusion (perceived not responsible) and those who viewed the speaker who did not reveal mode of acquisition (control) performed significantly better on the knowledge test compared to those who viewed the speaker who acquired HIV through unprotected sexual inttrcourse (perceived responsible). In addition. male participants in the perceived responsible condition reported a significant increase in sensation-sceking after viewing the video. Finally, females experienced a significantly greater increase in anxiety as a result of seeing the video than did males. Implications of these tindings for the design and implmentation of AIDS education programs were discussed.

AIDS Education for Adolescents

This paper reviewed 42 published evaluations of AIDS education programs for adolescents. Most of the interventions lasted for less than 3 hours and involved films, lectures, group discussions, or r...

AIDS Awareness at a Small Private College for Women

In 1990, 91 freshmen at a small women's college responded to a questionnaire designed to evaluate the level of knowledge and awareness of HIV and AIDS. The survey included questions on various aspects of the AIDS crisis, including biology, epidemiology, condom use, mandatory testing, and social policy issues. The original questionnaire was revised and distributed to the entering freshmen class during student orientation from 1991–1994, and these results were compared with those of the 1990 survey. Thus, data collected over a five year period have been reviewed. The students' general knowledge of HIV disease improved during the five year study period. The vast majority of respondents favored mandatory HIV testing in the health care setting. Although most students were able to identify high risk behaviors, including unprotected sex, for contracting HIV, the majority said that they do not use condoms on a regular basis. The findings of the survey underscore the need for AIDS education programs that focus on identifying and reducing high risk behaviors.

Prevalence and risk factors of HIV-1 and HIV-2 infection in urban and rural areas in Tamil Nadu, India.

We aim to study the factors associated with the prevalence of HIV-1 and HIV-2 infection in the urban and rural areas of Tamil Nadu, India. The population of Tamil Nadu is approximately 60 million. Between April 94 and March 95, 992 samples from 5 representative urban centres and 1071 samples from 5 representative rural centres were collected and studied. A questionnaire was administered privately and it preceded collection of each sample. Samples were screened using ELISA and antibodies to HIV-1 and HIV-2 were confirmed using Western blot. The study was anonymous and unlinked. The prevalence of HIV infection in urban and rural areas was 7.2% (95% CI=6.1 to 8.31%); HIV-1 antibodies were found in 7.4% (95% CI=5.8 to 9.2%) of urban and 7.0% (95% CI=5.6 to 8.7%) of rural population; HIV-2 antibodies were found in 0.8% of urban and 0.3% of rural population. Heterosexual transmission, more so among those with multiple partner sex, was the main mode; higher prevalence of HIV infection among divorced/single individuals both in urban (21.1%) and rural (26.1%) was found. HIV infection among housewives stood at 4.1% (urban) and 3.8% (rural). The strength of association between STDs and HIV was observed to be greater in rural subjects (OR=8.89; 95% CI=5.11 to 15.57) than in urban subjects (OR=1.9; 95% CI=1.14 to 3.18). The prevalence of condom use was found to be less than 2% in the study subjects. HIV-2 is not as widely prevalent in Tamil Nadu as HIV-1. In our study the most common risk factors for HIV infection that emerged were (a) having multiple sexual partners, and (b) history of STDs or Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) reactivity. Mobility of individuals between urban and rural areas has furthered the dissemination of HIV infection. Low condom usage among study subjects questions the effectiveness of the existing AIDS awareness and education programme. The study indicates the importance of placing equal emphasis on HIV prevention in rural India. HIV infection among housewives in urban and rural areas is indicative of gender inequalities and the importance of empowering women to prevent infection from spouse.

AIDS Concerns among Adolescents Attending Seventh-Day Adventist High Schools in Trinidad and Tobago

The purpose of this study was to identify AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and short-term behavioral intentions of adolescents attending five Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) parochial high schools in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. This is the first known research on AIDS to be conducted in parochial and specifically, SDA schools in the Caribbean and particularly, Trinidad and Tobago. Information gathered from this research will be useful in planning appropriate AIDS education and prevention programs for the schools represented in this survey.

Deaf Adolescents' Knowledge of AIDS: Grade and Gender Effects

Adolescents attending 5 state schools for the deaf responded to a 35-item questionnaire designed to probe their knowledge of AIDS. The 129 students in grades 9-12 had extremely limited core knowledge of AIDS, with the correct answers to only 8 of the 35 questions known by most students in all 4 grades. A minority of males and females knew the answers to most questions, indicating that AIDS education programs for deaf adolescents are urgently needed.

Sexual Behavior and Knowledge of AIDS among Female Trade Apprentices in a Yoruba Town in South-Western Nigeria

This exploratory study was carried out among unmarried female trade apprentices in Ikorodu, a Yoruba town in south-western Nigeria, to identify sexual risk behaviors, assess knowledge on HIV/AIDS, and recommend an appropriate AIDS education program. Four focus groups were conducted to gain insight into the social-cultural and economic factors influencing sexual risk behaviors, followed by a survey involving 280 randomly selected respondents. Findings showed that many group discussants approved of premarital sex and believed that sex with multiple partners occurred mainly because of the economic difficulties encountered by female apprentices. Most of the survey respondents (70.9%) were sexually experienced, with age of first sexual intercourse ranging from eleven to twenty-two years. One hundred and fifty-five (78.2%) were sexually active; of these, 37.4 percent said that their last sexual encounter occurred because they could not resist the pressure put on them by their male partners, were under the influence of alcohol, were in need of money, and raped. Sixty percent of the sexually active respondents did not take any action to prevent STD or pregnancy during their last sexual encounter. Of the fifty-eight who did, 37.9 percent used the condom. Of those sexually experienced (45.3%) have had at least one STD symptom in the year before, half of them did not do anything about their condition; 37 percent practiced self-medication or received injections from quacks. Although 70.9 percent had heard about AIDS, many had limited knowledge about the non-sexual routes of HIV transmission. Appropriate intervention strategies were recommended to educate the apprentices.

Evaluation of a High School HIV Education Program 1775

Since 1993, we have conducted an AIDS education program in local high schools. Two trained volunteer 1st and 2nd year medical students and an HIV infected speaker go into high school classrooms and speak to groups of 20-30 students. The medical students present a lecture covering factual information about HIV/AIDS and then the HIV infected individual discusses living with HIV infection. Each year, the program has addressed between 2,000 and 3,000 high school students. In order to determine program effectiveness, we administered standardized pre and post-test questionnaires to 327 high school students who participated in the program between December 1995 and January 1996. The questionnaire consisted of 31 questions selected to determine knowledge and attitudes about HIV. A total of 258 of 327 (79%) students completed the pre and post-test correctly and were included in the evaluation. The students tested were in 10th (23%), 11th (45%) and 12th (31%) grades, 51% were female and 82% were white. For the entire group, 42% answered all knowledge questions correctly on both the pre and post-test and 50% answered all attitude questions with a tolerant response on both pre and post-test. Although not statistically significant, 10th grade students had the lowest knowledge scores on the pretest (32% with all correct) and showed an improvement on the post-test (48% with all correct), whereas the 12th grade students had better scores on the pre-test compared to the post-test (47% vs 37% with all correct, respectively). Females scored significantly better than males on the knowledge questions and were more tolerant. Students who answered all questions with a tolerant response were more likely to answer all factual questions correctly compared to students with any not tolerant responses (50% vs 31%, respectively, p<.05). HIV education programs need ongoing evaluation to determine if they are having the desired impact on the students. We found that overall, the students knowledge base was good even before the teaching session and only in the youngest age group were we able to demonstrate a difference in the students knowledge after the program. (Funded by CNY Children's Health Fund)

An Exploratory Analysis of Communication Sources

Currently, most AIDS education and prevention programs attempt to change the high risk behavior of injection drug users (IDU's) (e.g., sharing needles and engaging in unsafe sex) through the implementation of two distinct strategies. First, empirical-rational strategies suggest that people maximize their rational self-interest. Second, normative re-education strategies suggest that people change their individual behavior when they believe that there has been change in sociocultural norms, values, and habits around them. Both of these strategies make assumptions about how communication changes IDU's beliefs and behavior. An empirical-rational strategy emphasizes non-personal mass communications (e.g., television, radio, newspaper); while normative re-educative strategies make use of personal communications (e.g., friends, family, educational outreach workers, and group discussion). The purpose of this paper is to compare these strategies by examining the impact of AIDS communication sources on the beliefs and behavior of IDU's.

Attitudes of Australian physiotherapy students towards AIDS

The aims of this study were to determine (1) the attitudes of Australian physiotherapy students towards AIDS, (2) correlates of these attitudes, and (3) if an AIDS education programme would result in attitude change. A random sample of 55 final-year physiotherapy students at the University of Sydney voluntarily completed a survey anonymously before and after a series of lectures about AIDS. Negative attitudes regarding AIDS and treating people living with AIDS were common. This may result in poor health care for people with AIDS and stress for physiotherapists. The lecture series had no effect on students’ knowledge or attitudes about AIDS, indicating that it needs to be redesigned if it is to be effective in changing students’ attitudes to AIDS.

Beliefs and attitudes towards AIDS policies and educational programs among Japanese businesses.

This study was undertaken to clarify the beliefs and attitudes of Japanese businesses towards AIDS. Questionnaires were mailed to 1,655 Japanese companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in June 1993, and the response rate was 38% (n = 620). About 60% of the responding companies had already implemented or were developing AIDS measures. Only 7% of the companies had an AIDS policy, and 5% of the companies were developing one. Eighty-five per cent of the companies perceived AIDS education as necessary, while 53% of the companies replied that HIV testing was unnecessary. As reasons for providing AIDS education, avoiding discrimination and anxiety in the workplace were frequently cited. Ninety-five per cent of the companies wanted guidelines or manuals for AIDS to be developed by the Ministry of Labour, or to have training courses for personnel in charge of education or counselling provided by the Ministry. Although AIDS measures are currently unsatisfactory in Japanese businesses, they are expected to develop effective measures, considering their high recognition of the need for AIDS education.

Effect of an AIDS education program for older adults.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of an age-specific AIDS education program on HIV/AIDS knowledge, perceived susceptibility to AIDS, and perceived severity of AIDS in older adults. The health belief model served as a framework. The age-specific AIDS education program was developed based on a knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors survey of 458 older adults at senior citizen centers. The program included case study presentations of actual older people with AIDS along with an emphasis on myths identified in the initial survey. There was a significant increase in total knowledge about AIDS (p < .001), perceived susceptibility (p < .01), and perceived severity (p < .001) after the educational program. Based on the results of this study, nurses are in an excellent position to provide primary and secondary AIDS prevention strategies for all age groups, including the older adult population.

Implementing AIDS Education

The world has been challenged by the AIDS epidemic for 15 years. In 1985, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control, allocated funds to all state departments of education to assist schools in the development of AIDS education policies and programs. Yet, these policies do not ensure that all students receive effective AIDS education. On September 21, 1991, the Arizona Legislature passed Senate Bill 1396, which requires public schools to annually provide AIDS education in grades K-12. The bill was rescinded in 1995. With prohibitive curriculum guidelines, limited teacher training opportunities and tremendous instructional demands, this educational policy was implemented in disparate forms. By examining the perspectives of the Arizona educators (representing three school districts), this qualitative study reveals how teachers ultimately controlled the delivery and nature of AIDS instruction based upon personal values, views of teacher roles, and their interpretation of the mandate itself.

Determination of T-lymphocyte subsets on site in rural Tanzania: results in HIV-1 infected and non-infected individuals.

With the FACSCount flow cytometer, counts of CD4, CD8 and CD3 lymphocytes and CD4/CD8 ratios were performed in a rural hospital in Tanzania. A total of 168 subjects (21 HIV-1 seropositive and 147 HIV-1 seronegative) were tested as part of a population-based serosurvey and AIDS education programme; 134 other subjects were hospitalized patients who had signs and symptoms suggestive of AIDS (69 HIV-1 seropositive and 65 HIV-seronegative). Mean values for the 147 HIV-1 seronegative subjects from the local population were 980 CD4 cells (95% CI 930, 1031), 598 CD8 cells (560, 635) and CD4/CD8 ratio 1.78 (1.68, 1.89). Seropositive subjects from the local population had significantly lower CD4 cell counts, higher CD8 counts and a lower CD4/CD8 ratio. CD4 cells were significantly lower and CD8 cells significantly higher in HIV-1 seropositive hospital patients compared to HIV-1 seronegative patients. However, 23 (35%) seronegative hospital patients had CD4 counts lower than 600. These results establish baseline values for the lymphocyte subsets in this population and indicate that this technique can be used in remote areas to monitor progress of HIV-infected individuals.