Community Involvement Could Cut Local AIDS Risk, Study Finds

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Community Involvement Could Cut Local AIDS Risk, Study Finds

Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tenn.) (12.14.02) - Wednesday, December 18, 2002
Mary Powers

Future AIDS prevention efforts need more community, police and church involvement, more accountability and more creative strategies for reaching those at greatest risk of becoming infected, according to recommendations outlined Friday by Dr. Jebose Okwumabua of the University of Memphis. "We need to get out of our ivory towers," Okwumabua told about 40 people, including AIDS activists, public health workers and federal officials. Okwumabua, a University of Memphis College of Education associate professor, was the study's principal investigator.

The suggestions stem from a federally funded assessment of local AIDS trends conducted this summer in the South Memphis and Midtown ZIP Codes. The areas were selected because of their high prevalence of AIDS. Together, they are home to 962 of the roughly 5,664 Shelby County residents with HIV and 654 of the 3,550 residents with AIDS.

Along with talking to neighborhood residents, bar and club owners, drug users and prostitutes, the research relied on eight field investigators who visited places like crack houses and Overton Park at night to get a better idea of how to prevent new AIDS infections.

The field investigators received two days of training before being sent into neighborhoods to conduct interviews and identify where and when high-risk behavior occurred. They included public Health Department employees, neighborhood residents and recovering drug and alcohol addicts.

The study was funded with a $27,000 grant from the federal Office of AIDS Policy. Recommendations will be distributed to state, county and local officials as well as AIDS service organizations. Such rapid assessments have been done in 16 communities nationwide.
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