Event or an Activity in the Community



Event or an Activity in the Community

1). What are your thoughts, beliefs, or fear before attending the event or activity?

Since the epidemic's beginning, Black Americans have been excessively affected by HIV/AIDS and with the passage of time that disparity has seemed to be deepened. Blacks are more accounted for AIDS diagnoses, new HIV infections. Records show that people living with HIV disease and HIV-related death rate is comparatively very high specifically among African-American women than any other ethnic/racial group in the U.S. A disproportionate impact of this pandemic has also had on gay, bisexual men, Black women, youth, and, and its affect varies across the country. Furthermore, there are more barriers in the access of health for Blacks with HIV/AIDS than their white counterparts (Jaynes, 2005).

2). What were your experiences while at the event or activity?

As a health educator, it is critically important for me to know about this problem in order to identify and prioritize needs and to plan HIV/STD education interventions. With an awareness of this disease I can get involved in the activities to ensure that purposes are defined, decisions are made, funds are allocated, and intervention messages are designed and developed in a realistic and informed manner to prevent HIV/AIDS. Moreover, to be effective, it is important for an education intervention to be culturally proficient.

Throughout the process of designing and implementing programs, participation of client populations helps to assure that the program will be acceptable specifically to the persons for whom it is designed. Cultural competence starts with the HIV/STD professional respecting and understanding of cultural differences and to be aware with the fact that their beliefs, perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors are effected by clients' cultures (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012).

3). What did you learn from this experience?

I have learned that Poverty is considered to be one of the major contributors to the HIV and AIDS epidemic among African American women. Poverty and a pathetic upbringing often create such circumstances for children that make them quit school at their young age, causing them to lose a sense of self-worth by creating hurdles for them in gaining access to stable and well-paid employment and get involved into criminal or socially unacceptable activities like alcohol and drug use that causes the major risk of HIV. Sexual relationship patterns are also influenced by the symptoms of poverty with which HIV ...