What's the 411? Assessing the feasibility of providing African American adolescents with HIV/AIDS prevention education in a faith-based setting.
This study examines African American faith based leaders' attitudes and beliefs about providing HIV prevention education and services to adolescents. Using a convenience sample, we identified priority adolescent health issues, attitudes about abstinence messages, and willingness to provide and participate in HIV prevention. Leaders identified drugs, gangs, alcohol, sex, and pregnancy as priority health issues affecting youth in their institutions. Leaders' strongly preferred to emphasize abstinence messages. Although leaders were willing to provide youth with health education, they were not willing to discuss specific behaviors associated with HIV transmission. African American churches provide a venue to reach African American youth; however, there are limitations to relying on faith-based HIV prevention services. HIV prevention education should continue to be supplemented via parents, schools, and public health agencies.
Division of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA. saf24@case.edu
Shelley A
SA
Francis
Wendy K
WK
Lam
Jessica D
JD
Cance
Vijaya K
VK
Hogan
D000293:Adolescent; D016497:Adolescent Health Services; D001741:Black or African American; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D015144:Southeastern United States; D014505:Urban Population