College aged, African American youth are at an even higher risk for HIV infection than their majority group peers. With over 2,000,000 African American young men and women attending HBCUs annually, these findings suggest serious implications for African American college students. While numerous educational and preventative interventions exist, African Americans continue to present the fastest growing infection rates than any other segment of the population, and are the least likely to be aware of their serostatus. Thus, offering HIV testing on HBCU campuses has the potential to enhance students'awareness of their HIV status, while promoting risk reduction and supporting early medical treatment, which optimizes clinical outcomes among those who are HIV positive by linking them to care. In an effort to fill the gap in health care accessibility, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has implemented a new model for diagnosing HIV infections outside of the traditional medical settings to include non-clinical settings in the community. In this application, the applicant proposes to use a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) approach to identify the barriers and facilitators of offering HIV testing on a Historically Black College/University (HBCU) in Mississippi. The geographic area and subgroup were chosen because of the disproportionate HIV prevalence and rate of infection;African Americans account for 37% of the Mississippi population, yet make up 73 % of its AIDS cases. The proposed study will use a multimethod approach beginning with a CBPR Approach and ending with a quantitative analysis. CBPR will be used to recruit, inform, and engage African American college students in developing strategies to reduce the barriers of HIV testing on an HBCU campus.

Public Health Relevance

There is much to be explored with regard to the factors that promote and impede HIV rapid testing. Implementing HIV testing on college campuses has the potential to promote opportunities for primary and secondary prevention.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Clinical Investigator Award (CIA) (K08)
Project #
1K08HD060445-01A1
Application #
7756342
Study Section
Behavioral and Social Consequences of HIV/AIDS Study Section (BSCH)
Program Officer
Newcomer, Susan
Project Start
2009-08-01
Project End
2014-07-31
Budget Start
2009-08-01
Budget End
2010-07-31
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2009
Total Cost
$114,817
Indirect Cost
Name
Jackson State University
Department
Public Health & Prev Medicine
Type
Schools of Allied Health Profes
DUNS #
044507085
City
Jackson
State
MS
Country
United States
Zip Code
39217