Aids and the health crisis of the U.S. urban poor; the perspective of critical medical anthropology

Abstract

Abstract-The social identity of HIV/AIDS in the U.S. has been shaped, for the most part, by two factors, the prevailing configuration of social relations across class, racial, gender, and sexual orientation, on the one hand, and the prevailing array of public health, especially epidemiological, categories of disease transmission, on the other. Focusing on the AIDS epidemic among inner city people of color, this paper challenges the distortions wrought in our understanding from both of these factors and instead develops an alternative perspective for AIDS research among medical anthropologists and health social scientists generally.

Using Syndemics Theory to Investigate Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Condomless Sex Among Youth Living with HIV in 17 U.S. Cities

“…Consistent with other studies [8–10, 13], and with syndemics theory [28, 29], significant positive associations were found between frequency of substance use, severity of substance use, emotional distress, alternative risk-reduction attitudes and behaviors and condomless anal and vaginal sex. Positive associations were found among frequency of substance use, severity of substance use, and emotional distress, which is in line with prior research [61].…”

Using Syndemics Theory to Investigate Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Condomless Sex Among Youth Living with HIV in 17 U.S. Cities

“…Consistent with other studies [8–10, 13], and with syndemics theory [28, 29], significant positive associations were found between frequency of substance use, severity of substance use, emotional distress, alternative risk-reduction attitudes and behaviors and condomless anal and vaginal sex. Positive associations were found among frequency of substance use, severity of substance use, and emotional distress, which is in line with prior research [61].…”

Global research on syndemics: A meta-knowledge analysis (2001-2020)

“…Social determinants of health constituted a significant proportion of syndemics research. This is consistent with the fundamental idea of syndemic conditions that have common social factors and bio-social interactions [9,10,12]. However, there were distinct patterns in research on social factors that influenced health status, disease development, and subsequent outcomes in study populations.…”

Psychosocial Well-Being and HIV-Related Immune Health Outcomes among HIV-Positive Older Adults: Support for a Biopsychosocial Model of HIV Stigma and Health

“…Bivariate analyses revealed a high degree of association among all psychosocial stressors, which supports the idea that OALWH are vulnerable to experiencing a unique set of co-occurring psychosocial challenges and is consistent with HIV syndemics. 75 As expected, bivariate and multivariate models showed significant associations between higher ART adherence and VL suppression, and in turn, VL suppression was associated with higher percent CD4, which follows existing research on the immune-enhancing action of ART. 50,51 In contrast to our expectation that multiple stressors would additively impact immunologic function, HIV stigma emerged as the sole psychosocial influence on a marker of disease progression in both bivariate and multivariate analyses.…”

Using Syndemics Theory to Investigate Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Condomless Sex Among Youth Living with HIV in 17 U.S. Cities

“…Consistent with other studies [8–10, 13], and with syndemics theory [28, 29], significant positive associations were found between frequency of substance use, severity of substance use, emotional distress, alternative risk-reduction attitudes and behaviors and condomless anal and vaginal sex. Positive associations were found among frequency of substance use, severity of substance use, and emotional distress, which is in line with prior research [61].…”

Global research on syndemics: A meta-knowledge analysis (2001-2020)

“…Social determinants of health constituted a significant proportion of syndemics research. This is consistent with the fundamental idea of syndemic conditions that have common social factors and bio-social interactions [9,10,12]. However, there were distinct patterns in research on social factors that influenced health status, disease development, and subsequent outcomes in study populations.…”

Psychosocial Well-Being and HIV-Related Immune Health Outcomes among HIV-Positive Older Adults: Support for a Biopsychosocial Model of HIV Stigma and Health

“…Bivariate analyses revealed a high degree of association among all psychosocial stressors, which supports the idea that OALWH are vulnerable to experiencing a unique set of co-occurring psychosocial challenges and is consistent with HIV syndemics. 75 As expected, bivariate and multivariate models showed significant associations between higher ART adherence and VL suppression, and in turn, VL suppression was associated with higher percent CD4, which follows existing research on the immune-enhancing action of ART. 50,51 In contrast to our expectation that multiple stressors would additively impact immunologic function, HIV stigma emerged as the sole psychosocial influence on a marker of disease progression in both bivariate and multivariate analyses.…”

Using Syndemics Theory to Investigate Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Condomless Sex Among Youth Living with HIV in 17 U.S. Cities

“…Consistent with other studies [8–10, 13], and with syndemics theory [28, 29], significant positive associations were found between frequency of substance use, severity of substance use, emotional distress, alternative risk-reduction attitudes and behaviors and condomless anal and vaginal sex. Positive associations were found among frequency of substance use, severity of substance use, and emotional distress, which is in line with prior research [61].…”

Global research on syndemics: A meta-knowledge analysis (2001-2020)

“…Social determinants of health constituted a significant proportion of syndemics research. This is consistent with the fundamental idea of syndemic conditions that have common social factors and bio-social interactions [9,10,12]. However, there were distinct patterns in research on social factors that influenced health status, disease development, and subsequent outcomes in study populations.…”

Psychosocial Well-Being and HIV-Related Immune Health Outcomes among HIV-Positive Older Adults: Support for a Biopsychosocial Model of HIV Stigma and Health

“…Bivariate analyses revealed a high degree of association among all psychosocial stressors, which supports the idea that OALWH are vulnerable to experiencing a unique set of co-occurring psychosocial challenges and is consistent with HIV syndemics. 75 As expected, bivariate and multivariate models showed significant associations between higher ART adherence and VL suppression, and in turn, VL suppression was associated with higher percent CD4, which follows existing research on the immune-enhancing action of ART. 50,51 In contrast to our expectation that multiple stressors would additively impact immunologic function, HIV stigma emerged as the sole psychosocial influence on a marker of disease progression in both bivariate and multivariate analyses.…”