This is part II or a 2 part session. Part I is available here.
Patient Narratives on What Constitutes Meaningful HIV Prevention Counseling. Talking about sexual practices, preferences and problems during a routine clinical encounter is not common. In fact, many patients and healthcare providers report feeling uncomfortable managing even a cursory discussion of sex. Moreover, for people living with HIV, frank discussions about sexual expression with a healthcare provider are complicated by legal issues, concerns about feeling judged, and the underlying belief that such discussions are incongruent within the medical setting. Through ethnographic interviews with HIV specialty care providers and their patients we explored the “black box” of meaningful prevention discussions. kimberly.koester@ucsf.edu (W-13)
CHAIR: KOESTER, Kimberly (Ctr for AIDS Prev Studies, UC-San Francisco)
LUNDGREN, Rebecka (U Maryland)
Bridging the Gap between Providers and Clients: Reducing Stigma and Discrimination in VCT Services.
Participatory research is part of the tool kit of applied anthropologists. This paper reports on use of an innovative participatory method, Partnership Defined Quality, to develop a shared vision of high quality voluntary counseling and testing among providers and community members as part of a quality improvement initiative in Central America. Workshops with providers, sex workers, and men who have sex with men explored beliefs and practices related to provision and utilization of services. Client concerns included discrimination and confidentiality; providers cited inadequate supplies and health concerns. Increased understanding of differences between provider and client cultures guided quality improvement efforts. lundgrer@georgetown.edu (W-43)
DOLWICK GRIEB, Suzanne (U Florida)
Local HIV Epidemics in a Transnational Community.
The Garinagu, a matrifocal African-amerindian indigenous group, have been heavily reliant on migration since their beginnings. The Garinagu form a transnational community and this has shaped their cultural practices. HIV/AIDS is prevalent among the Garinagu in their home countries as well as in New York City (NYC), where a large proportion of Garinagu resides. Interviews and surveys were used to explore the relationship between gender roles, migration, and HIV among the Garinagu in Trujillo, Honduras and NYC. In this transnational community, two differing epidemics can be seen that must be dealt with using individualized approaches. sdolwick@ufl.edu (W-43)
YODER, P. Stanley (Macro Int’l) and LUGALLA, Joe (U New Hampshire)
Social Context of Disclosure of HIV Test Results.
This study sought to understand how individuals reveal their HIV test results to others and the ways that social relations affect the disclosure process. The data were collected through openended interviews administered in Swahili to informants who had just been tested for HIV, and those who were living with HIV/AIDS in Dar-es-Salaam and Iringa regions. Analysis shows that social relations influence decisions that individuals make about disclosure. Most people preferred to reveal their HIV status to close family members. Most also mentioned fear of being rejected and discriminated against as major reasons for not disclosing their test results to others. paul.s.yoder@macrointernational.com (W-43)
Please click here to listen to the audio
OR download audio
OR subscribe to podcast.
Session took place in Santa Fe, NM at the 69th Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology in March 2009.
