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DISCONNECT AND INVINCIBILITY -School programs should focus on several different aspects to lower the sense of disconnect students gain in towns where AIDS rates are low: - emphasize proximity to New York City and highlight the rampant AIDS problem there. -Introduction of an HIV positive patient to the class. Douglas Kirby suggests that perhaps students are unlikely to feel a personal connection to the AIDS epidemic without knowing anyone infected with HIV. As AIDS rates are so low in much of Fairfield County, this statement is especially pertinent in this area. Kirby proposes introducing students to a speaker who suffers from AIDS as a solution to stigma by personalizing the epidemic, but has no scientific study to support notions of this method’s efficiency. (Cite) However, a 1993 study of female injection drug users found that having a family member or friend die of AIDS within the last six months resulted in sexual behavior change. (Cite) Perhaps Kirby’s proposition would have a similar effect on school children. -emphasis on getting test as another means of personalizing the disease. While students may not belong to risk groups now, they may in the future. In towns and cities with high AIDS rates, HIV testing should be offered in schools (however, HIV testing can be expensive and is not necessarily cost-effective in places where AIDS rates are low.) Weindhardt study found that patients who went through HIV counseling and testing and tested positive increased safe-sex behaviors and decreased in risk behaviors. However, those who did not test positive did not show signs of change. -Cost of HIV testing in school clinics: In a Massachusetts study four hospitals that offered voluntary HIV counseling, testing and referral, upon entering the hospital. While not quite the same as programs in schools, it may share many of the same costs. Test used Orasure antibody detecting test, which delivered results in 14 days. Total cost for 12 months: $349,000. STIGMA AND CULTURAL BARRIERS -Discussion of HIV and AIDS in schools may reduce the effects of family-induced stigma on HIV positive students. Family-induced stigma can also be counteracted by stronger AIDS-awareness education in public high schools. Published in 2007, a study regarding youth adherence to the HAART treatment program found that 50% of its participants (or between 12 and 13 of the 25) “…skipped doses when they feared that friends or family might discover their status.” In the conclusion of this study, the authors noted that other figures, such as pharmacists or case manages, would have to provide the stability lacking in the patient’s home needed for them to continue taking their medicine. Placing a stronger emphasis on the AIDS epidemic in Fairfield County public high schools might allow for a stronger connection between students and health teachers, providing yet another basis of support in the face of stigma from peers and family. -Specific Curriculum should be developed by a panel of teachers, students, and, where applicable, local AIDS and HIV prevention organization in order to develop culturally and racially relevant programs.
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