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Solutions for Minorities continued |
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Having a thorough understanding of where the HIV/AIDS transmission problem(s) comes from can have an important and positive outcome on public health policies. It only makes sense to access and educate the minority in an effective way for them, not necessarily for the public health system. Therefore, perhaps public health officials could team up with churches in combating the virus. This would increase the credibility in the health system by utilizing an establishment that the minority population has already placed much of their trust in (16). The Black church, in particular, has played a cultural and historical role in the black community, which makes it a perfect setting for health education (21). With 52% of African Americans attending religious services at least 2 or 3 times per month, a strong belief that God will protect those who rely on him (15), and an intense desire of pastors to work with and for their communities (21), the role of the church holds much promise. A simple solution is to begin HIV education sessions within the churches. More specifically, these classes should be stationed at the Hartford Seminary, located in Hartford, four minutes from 10 Bartholomew Avenue, AIDS Project Hartford’s headquarters. The Hartford Seminary is an institution of religious education of many different purposes, with access to faculty of all ethnicities and races. Because the program staff members are already integrated into the community, they are well on their way to gaining the trust of the congregations. One of the most important factors in congregation compliance regarding health education is knowing that those teaching understand and feel with the community that they are addressing (16). It is not reasonable to expect every sermon to talk about AIDS/HIV, so perhaps a better strategy would be to offer the educational sessions as part of a luncheon. Luncheons would be fairly inexpensive for the AIDS Project program to coordinate, and would provide an incentive to church members to attend, and should be well received by the congregation. Attendance would hopefully be greatest among the indigent, who will benefit from the free lunch to them and their families, and because these are the people who seem to be at the greatest risk for HIV hopefully they would be impacted most by the educational materials. These gatherings could be held once or twice a month after services on Sundays. After the luncheon (as families), a good strategy would be to break up into three separate groups in order to address more tailored issues (20). Addressing the sexual risks of having sex with multiple partners with men, and teaching them about the physical effects of HIV/AIDS might make a quick and easy difference in their practices. In addition to this, women should participate in a program about self-empowerment and standing up to their partners/husbands, for that seems to be the major issue in their contracting of the virus (15). This is especially important, considering women should have control over their own lives, and their wellbeing affects the wellbeing of the entire family, including the children. Finally, a separate youth program with simple sex skills-based education would be extremely valuable and has been proven to reduce risky behaviors (13). This would be a successful way to combat HIV/AIDS transmission in the younger generation. Luncheons would be extremely cost effective in that, in comparison to the great costs of HIV/AIDS treatment, lunch catering, from Myles Catering (http://www.mylescatering-ct.com/index.html), located just down the road from AIDS Project Hartford, at 95 Bartholomew Avenue, costs less than $4,000 (for several.) The salaries of health care educators/program staff for their work also needs to be accounted for in the overall cost of the luncheon program. I feel confident that this program would be successful.
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