HIV in Hetrosexual African

As a Hispanic woman, I can say that as a race, we have a culture all our own. Weddings are usually huge with cousins of cousins attending and aunts making brisket and rice and beans in the back kitchen. Gatherings, whether they are for holidays or birthdays or graduation parties are always enormously food-centric, so instead of asking the host what you should get as a gift, you are usually asking what food and how much you should bring. All races have their own cultural norms, so it is not surprising that research studies would focus on race as a factor for behavior. A study published in the journal “AIDS” in June 2008 by researchers at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) demonstrates that HIV prevention techniques geared towards changing the behavior of heterosexual African Americans needs to consist of many distinct characteristics in order to be effective.
Lynae Darbes, a professor of medicine at UCSF’s Center for AIDS Prevention Studies and Global Health Sciences and the lead author of the study states, “Peer education, skills training and cultural tailoring were critical factors we found in interventions that increased condoms use, reduced HIV risk behaviors and led to lower rates of sexually transmitted infections. It is important to recognize the diversity that exists within the African American community, and we are not recommending 'one size fits all' types of interventions. Successful interventions honed in on specific aspects of the target populations." The study was comprised of roughly 14,000 participants in a series of 38 controlled trials that were randomized in terms of social norms. Some examples of the norms that were focused on include how one person might perceive their risk factor for contracting AIDS, how to reduce sexual partners, their use of condoms, how to delay the first episode of sex with a new partner or a compilation of these norms. Results from the study point towards members of the African American community educating their peers in order to be more effective.
Darbes goes on to say, “Cultural tailoring was crucial and in effective interventions was derived from activities such as formative research within the target community using a 'ground up' approach as opposed to a top down or 'parachute' approach. Understanding the community was important in developing efficacious interventions." The study analyzed the controlled trials and quantified with measurements of condom use, percentage rates of unsafe or risky sex and the number of sexually transmitted diseases reported. George W. Rutherford, a co-author of the study, states, “This study shows how the technique of meta-analysis can be used to understand an entire literature and to find subtle but important associations that single studies simply can't find."