ABSTRACT
A participatory community project in the US-Mexico border town of Ciudad Juarez, aimed at helping women who are sex partners of male injection drug users to reduce behaviours which increase their risk for HIV infection, is described and evaluated. The design and implementation of the project were influenced by Paulo Freire's pedagogy in the Latin American tradition of 'popular' education, by Bandura's self-efficacy concepts, and by David Warner's 'barefoot doctor' community health care methodology. Using these approaches the participants were directly involved in the development of teaching materials, and curriculum content and implementation of the project. The programme was evaluated quantitatively using NIDA's AIDS Intake and Follow-up Assessment (AIA/AFA) questionnaires, and qualitatively using open ended interviews. While the AIA/AFA questionnaires detected small changes in the frequency of condom use among the participants, ethnographic interviews detected significant changes in the nature of the behaviours which were placing the women at risk. The changes seem to stem from an increase in the degree of self-esteem, self-efficacy and awareness of the social, economic, and political constraints of their lives. These results demonstrate the need for qualitative measures to be incorporated in the evaluation of community based health education programmes. A series of recommendations is presented to facilitate further development and replication of the programme in similar populations.
Subject(s)
HIV Infections/prevention & control , Risk-Taking , Sexual Behavior , Sexual Partners , Substance Abuse, Intravenous , Women's Health Services , Adolescent , Adult , Condoms , Female , Humans , Mexico , Middle Aged , National Institutes of Health (U.S.) , Program Evaluation , Risk Factors , Self-Help Groups , Teaching Materials , United StatesABSTRACT
PIP: The problem-posing methodology of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, using the reading circle approach previously deployed in successful literacy campaigns in developing countries, is introduced for application in AIDS information programs. The basis of this educational process is the dialogue where those to be educated resolve their problems by evaluating information critically, capturing concepts by codification and decodification, and transmitting information by creating relevant educational materials. Health circles are organized with women as educators to impart knowledge about AIDS and HIV: definitions, epidemiological components (sex, age, and risk behavior), means of transmission, stages of the progression of AIDS, prevention of HIV infection, and tests for detecting HIV antibodies. The dialogue explores knowledge and feelings about AIDS and how it affects life in the community reveals personal experiences and accounts of knowing someone who was HIV-positive, and develops action plans to minimize AIDS cases in the community. The Latin population of California, mainly of Mexican origin, with low levels of education, income, and acculturation and a high incidence of AIDS, is an appropriate target of such intervention. In 1980, there were 12.3 million people of Hispanic origin in the US. In August 1990, there were 143,280 persons diagnoses with AIDS according to the Centers for Disease Control. 78,878 of these (55%) were Anglos, and 21,752 (15%) were Hispanics. Among the Anglos, the incidence was 300/million inhabitants, while among Hispanics, it was 1059/million, a 3-field higher rate.^ieng