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. 2010 May;21(2 Suppl):1-12.
doi: 10.1353/hpu.0.0280.

Views of young, rural African Americans of the role of community social institutions in HIV prevention

Aletha Y Akers  1 , Selena Youmans, Stacy W Lloyd, Dionne M Smith, Bahby Banks, Connie Blumenthal, Tashuna Albritton, Arlinda Ellison, Giselle Corbie Smith, Adaora A Adimora
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Views of young, rural African Americans of the role of community social institutions in HIV prevention

Aletha Y Akers et al. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2010 May.

Abstract

Background: We explored rural African American youths' perceptions about the role of community social institutions in addressing HIV.

Methods: We conducted four focus groups with African Americans aged 16 to 24 years in two rural counties in North Carolina. Groups were stratified by gender and risk status. We used a grounded theory approach to content analysis.

Results: Participants identified four social institutions as primary providers of HIV-related health promotion efforts: faith organizations, schools, politicians, and health agencies. They reported perceiving a lack of involvement in HIV prevention by faith-based organizations, constraints of abstinence-based sex education policies, politicians' lack of interest in addressing broader HIV determinants, and inadequacies in health agency services, and viewed all of these as being counter-productive to HIV prevention efforts.

Conclusions: Youth have important insights about local social institutions that should be considered when designing HIV prevention interventions that partner with local organizations.

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