The Role of the Church in the Prevention of HIV/AIDS

摘要

We sought to identify the role of the church in the prevention of HIV/AIDS among high-risk individuals. Data were collected in 1998-99 from 827 individuals living in Illinois, including men who have sex with men (MSMs), injection drug users (IDUs), sex workers, people living with HIV, heterosexuals at high risk, migrant workers, and perinatal women at high risk. Results indicated that 60% had attended a church service at least once in the past three months, and 78% indicated that religion and spirituality was a€?somewhata€? to a€?extremelya€? important to them. Of the total sample, 25% had heard some type of HIV/AIDS prevention message in a church setting. This varied substantially by risk group, with only .06% of the migrant sample indicating the church as a source of HIV prevention compared to 18.4% of the high-risk heterosexuals. Because many people in these high-risk groups attend church on a regular basis and consider spirituality to be an important part of their lives, these data support the role of the church in providing primary prevention programming for high-risk people.