AIDS education and prevention : official publication of the International Society for AIDS Education
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Heterosexual transmission is one factor involved in the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) within the injection drug use (IDU) population and between IDU and non-IDU individuals. Insufficient information is currently available to reduce this heterosexual transmission. As a basis for designing a questionnaire aimed at the IDU population, we conducted 5 focus groups to collect information on knowledge of and attitudes toward safe sex as held by male and female IDUs in methadone treatment. ⋯ We also found gender-based differences in knowledge and learning style. Also, while individuals felt a responsibility to prevent HIV transmission, they lacked sufficient control to do so. The wide range of responses on questions concerning sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), condoms, reproductive decisions, and methods of promoting safe sex provides a basis for developing a questionnaire designed to identify and target specific subgroups for educational intervention.
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This article reports how a prenatal clinic in a major urban teaching hospital has developed and integrated an HIV education and counseling program into routine prenatal care. The patient population served are predominantly minority women living in an inner-city community that has been disproportionately affected by the AIDS epidemic. ⋯ The program has succeeded in involving a large population of women in an educational program, has identified HIV-1 seropositive pregnant women through voluntary testing, and has provided them with the necessary medical and social work services. Principles of program development are identified for use in other settings.
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Language, as a reflection of culture, not only mirrors the concepts of the society in which it is employed, but also shapes the consciousness of the people who communicate with it. Recently acquired terminology related to AIDS has had a dramatic effect upon American perceptions and traditions. Current suggestions that the term "HIV infection" be used as a substitute for "AIDS" when referring to the epidemic we currently face validly demonstrate the impact that semantics have upon accurately raising consciousness regarding the magnitude of a problem. People involved in AIDS/HIV instruction should take these concerns into consideration when presenting the AIDS issue.