Public health and church-based constructions of HIV prevention: black Baptist perspective

Abstract

The black church is influential in shaping health behaviors within African-American communities, yet few use evidence-based strategies for HIV prevention (abstinence, monogamy, condoms, voluntary counseling and testing, and prevention with positives). Using principles of grounded theory and interpretive description, we explored the social construction of HIV prevention within black Baptist churches in North Carolina. Data collection included interviews with church leaders (n = 12) and focus groups with congregants (n = 7; 36 participants). Analytic tools included open coding and case-level comparisons. Social constructions of HIV/AIDS prevention were influenced by two worldviews: public health and church-based. Areas of compatibility and incompatibility exist between the two worldviews that inform acceptability and adaptability of current evidence-based strategies. These findings offer insight into ways to increase the compatibility of evidence-based HIV prevention strategies within the black Baptist church context.