Proactive and Reactive Strategies for Delivering Community-Based HIV Prevention Services: An Ethnographic Analysis

• NCJ Number: 129069
• Journal: AIDS Education and Prevention Volume: 2 Issue: 3 Dated: (Fall 1990) Pages: 191-200
• Author(s): J Johnson; M L Williams; J A Kotarba
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 10 pages
• Grant Number(s): 5 R18 DA05156
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Community outreach workers who deliver HIV prevention messages to intravenous drugs users (IVDUs) employ two basic strategies: a proactive approach in which they actively seek, identify, and interact with clients, and a reactive approach in which they establish a more passive presence in the community.

Abstract

The data used to compare the two approaches were collected primarily from analysis of participant observation field notes and conversational interviews with outreach workers assigned to three demographically distinct inner city communities in Houston, all with high concentrations of IVDUs. Analysis of the two strategies indicates that the outreach workers tried to fashion their HIV prevention messages according to the community's culture and attitudes toward drug abuse and HIV-related diseases. AIDS outreach administrators can effectively introduce both proactive and reactive strategies. 17 references (Author abstract modified)