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Engaging African American Faith-Based Organizations in Adolescent HIV Prevention

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Abstract

To reduce current HIV disparities among African American youth, it is imperative to find effective ways to extend the reach of evidence-based HIV prevention. One promising community resource to support this effort is faith-based organizations (FBOs), a credible and respected resource in the African American community. This paper describes the experiences, perceptions, and challenges that African American FBOs and faith leaders face in engaging in adolescent HIV prevention and highlights facilitators and barriers to implementing HIV prevention in African American FBOs. The findings suggest that African American FBOs and faith-based leaders are uniquely positioned to be instrumental resources in reducing African American youth HIV disparities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Developmental and Behavioral Sciences, Children’s Mercy Hospital, 2401 Gillham Road, Kansas City, MO, 64108, USA

    Briana A. Woods-Jaeger

  2. Department of Community and Behavioral Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Mamie Carlson

  3. Department of Health Behavior, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Tamara Taggart

  4. Strengthening the Black Family, Inc., Raleigh, NC, USA

    Linda Riggins & Melvin R. Jackson

  5. Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Alexandra F. Lightfoot

Authors
  1. Briana A. Woods-Jaeger
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  2. Mamie Carlson
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  3. Tamara Taggart
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  4. Linda Riggins
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  5. Alexandra F. Lightfoot
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  6. Melvin R. Jackson
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Correspondence to Briana A. Woods-Jaeger.

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Woods-Jaeger, B.A., Carlson, M., Taggart, T. et al. Engaging African American Faith-Based Organizations in Adolescent HIV Prevention. J Relig Health 54, 1358–1374 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-014-9932-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-014-9932-1

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