During the early years of the AIDS epidemic, thousands of Americans became infected with HIV through the nation's blood supply. Because little reliable information existed at the time AIDS first began showing up in hemophiliacs and in others who had received transfusions, experts disagreed about whether blood and blood products could transmit the disease. During this period of great uncertainty, decision-making regarding the blood supply became increasingly difficult and fraught with risk. This volume provides a balanced inquiry into the blood safety controversy, which involves private sexual practices, personal tragedy for the victims of HIV/AIDS, and public confidence in America's blood services system. The book focuses on critical decisions as information about the danger to the blood supply emerged. The committee draws conclusions about what was doneâ€"and recommends what should be done to produce better outcomes in the face of future threats to blood safety. The committee frames its analysis around four critical area: Product treatmentâ€"Could effective methods for inactivating HIV in blood have been introduced sooner? Donor screening and referralâ€"including a review of screening to exlude high-risk individuals. Regulations and recall of contaminated bloodâ€"analyzing decisions by federal agencies and the private sector. Risk communicationâ€"examining whether infections could have been averted by better communication of the risks.

Europe's "Black Death" contributed to the rise of nation states, mercantile economies, and even the Reformation. Will the AIDS epidemic have similar dramatic effects on the social and political landscape of the twenty-first century? This readable volume looks at the impact of AIDS since its emergence and suggests its effects in the next decade, when a million or more Americans will likely die of the disease. The Social Impact of AIDS in the United States addresses some of the most sensitive and controversial issues in the public debate over AIDS. This landmark book explores how AIDS has affected fundamental policies and practices in our major institutions, examining: How America's major religious organizations have dealt with sometimes conflicting values: the imperative of care for the sick versus traditional views of homosexuality and drug use. Hotly debated public health measures, such as HIV antibody testing and screening, tracing of sexual contacts, and quarantine. The potential risk of HIV infection to and from health care workers. How AIDS activists have brought about major change in the way new drugs are brought to the marketplace. The impact of AIDS on community-based organizations, from volunteers caring for individuals to the highly political ACT-UP organization. Coping with HIV infection in prisons. Two case studies shed light on HIV and the family relationship. One reports on some efforts to gain legal recognition for nonmarital relationships, and the other examines foster care programs for newborns with the HIV virus. A case study of New York City details how selected institutions interact to give what may be a picture of AIDS in the future. This clear and comprehensive presentation will be of interest to anyone concerned about AIDS and its impact on the country: health professionals, sociologists, psychologists, advocates for at-risk populations, and interested individuals.

The first three chapters of Action Research: Models, Methods, and Examples covers the history, foundations, and basics of conducting action research projects. In those chapters you will learn about the origins of action research as well as about the different methods and models of action research - from the original approaches used by Kurt Lewin and his students in the 1940s and 1950s to the diversity of current approaches to AR that are used to develop both solutions to real world problems and to construct a better understanding of important issues and concern in communities, schools, businesses, and organizations. The nine chapters in the second part of the book illustrate the many ways action research is practiced today. Those chapters illustrate the use of action research methods to accomplish everything from individual personal professional development to changing policies and practices in large organizations and systems. The chapters detail many specific methods of doing AR such as participatory action research, emancipatory action research, designbased action research, collaborative inquiry, and many others.

This volume of Advances in Medical Sociology showcases rich theoretical and empirical contributions on SGM health and wellbeing. The chapters address a variety of topics, drawing from classic and contemporary sociological frameworks and constructs, and reflecting intersecting interdisciplinary approaches to SGM health.

With insightful discussion of program evaluation and the efforts of the Centers for Disease Control, this book presents a set of clear-cut recommendations to help ensure that the substantial resources devoted to the fight against AIDS will be used most effectively. This expanded edition of Evaluating AIDS Prevention Programs covers evaluation strategies and outcome measurements, including a realistic review of the factors that make evaluation of AIDS programs particularly difficult. Randomized field experiments are examined, focusing on the use of alternative treatments rather than placebo controls. The book also reviews nonexperimental techniques, including a critical examination of evaluation methods that are observational rather than experimentalâ€"a necessity when randomized experiments are infeasible.

Performing Identities brings together essays by scholars, artists and activists engaged in understanding and conserving rapidly disappearing local knowledge forms of indigenous communities across continents. It depicts the imaginative transactions evident in the interface of identity and cultural transformation, raising the issue of cultural rights of these otherwise marginalized communities.

Stating that HIV/AIDS is a colossal public health problem is a vast understatement. Its effects extend to all reaches of the globe and its toll is enormous. , The most recent statistics on HIV infections, people living with HIV/AIDS, and AIDS-related deaths are jolting. Current realities, historical data, and future projections clearly indicate that much more action is needed to prevent new infections and curb the effects of HIV/AIDS. Rather than a single global strategy for HIV/AIDS prevention, programs must be developed and implemented with an awareness of local, regional, national, and international conditions. Our hope for this book is that additional insight into HIV/AIDS prevention can be garnered and the ideas generated here will spur new efforts and improve existing ones. The chapters in this book explore how health communication researchers and practitioners continue to play critical roles in lessening the spread of HIV and the devastating impacts of HIV/AIDS locally, regionally, and globally. The book’s three sections—general prevention, global context, and specific contexts—address a range of topics. Chapters range from formative research to message construction and processing (e.g., difficulties in communicating statistical information, understanding risk messages), address geographical regions from Africa and Asia to Central America and the Caribbean, and examine specific contexts from university students to later-life adults as well as African Americans and persons living with HIV/AIDS. Because there is currently neither a cure for HIV/AIDS nor a vaccine to prohibit infection, the concluding chapter reinforces the book’s main premises—behavior change as the key to prevention and health communication work as crucial to achieving such change.