Churches in African American communities can provide effective HIV/AIDS prevention services, according to a new study by Michelle Teti, DrPH, MPH, an alumni of the Drexel University School of Public Health. Dr. Teti noted that the continued stigma associated with HIV/AIDS, as well as a lack of funding and training for churches, to be barriers for faith-based prevention services.
The report first appeared online in the Journal of HIV/AIDS and Social Services.
Dr. Teti’s investigation focused on design and implementation of the “Faith in You” project, a faith-based HIV/AIDS prevention, education, counseling and testing program. Given the gap in research surrounding knowledge of these faith-based programs, and specifically the African American church’s role in HIV services, Dr. Teti set out to identify and understand the barriers and facilitators to development and implementation of the program from a religious leader and community point of view.
Seth Welles, PhD, ScD at Drexel University School of Public Health, was a co-investigator on the study. He also headed the team of the “Faith in You” project. To obtain the clergy and community viewpoint of a faith-based HIV services program, focus groups were conducted using the CDC-identified high-risk groups for contracting HIV/AIDS. These five groups were clergy and religious leaders, men who have sex with men (MSM), male injection drug users (M-IDU), female injection drug users (F-IDU), and females who have partners who are HIV-positive or are injection drug users.
Through these focus groups, Dr. Teti and her team were able to determine religious leaders’ beliefs about HIV-risk behaviors and their feelings about church involvement in providing HIV services to the community. They were also able to determine community members’ likelihood of approaching a church for HIV services.
Dr. Teti’s investigation identified barriers from a clergy standpoint to implementation of the “Faith in You” program in African American churches to be limited government funding, lack of training in grant writing to obtain funding, and lack of training in providing HIV services.
The investigation also identified the continuing stigma associated with HIV/AIDS as a barrier for members of the community who might need HIV services. The experience of community members discussed in the report centers on being ostracized for having HIV/AIDs, being an IDU or being MSM.
Facilitators to development and implementation of the program include services already provided by African American churches including HIV prevention education, help getting food, shelter, clothing and jobs and referral for HIV care and substance abuse treatment. African American churches also comprise a network that allows for easy referral to another church or program when services are not available at a particular location. The church’s ability to reach out to members of the community also serves as a facilitator to implementation of a program.
Dr. Teti’s investigation also brought to light the importance of spirituality in facilitating implementation of an HIV services program. Religious leaders recognized their role in supporting all people, especially while in crisis. Community members in the focus groups also recognized that God and spirituality could be a large support in their lives. They reported feeling accepted by God despite their IDU, MSM or HIV statuses.
Dr. Teti concludes that while the barriers to creating faith-based HIV/AIDS services programs must be addressed, gradual work and collaboration could yield HIV/AIDS services and a “Faith in You” program that are especially meaningful in the African American community.
Dr. Teti was the first graduate of the Drexel University School of Public Health’s DrPH program. She is an assistant professor at the University of Missouri School of Health Professions.