HIV/AIDS-related services for women and the rural community context

Abstract

Rural communities present a different context for HIV/AIDS than urban communities, particularly for women. Theory, research and care and prevention practices for women in urban contexts are not necessarily easily applied to women in rural communities. This paper identifies several important characteristics of the rural community context and discusses how they may impact the development of HIV/AIDS-related care and prevention services for women. A social ecological perspective, with its emphasis on the relationship between individual-level behaviour and experience and different levels of the social environment, is presented as a useful approach to the study of the HIV/AIDS care and prevention service needs of rural women. Finally, recommendations for research are provided, consistent with a social ecological perspective, that can address the current lack of information regarding rural women's HIV/AIDS care and prevention service needs.

In Their Own Voices: Rural African American Youth Speak Out About Community-Based HIV Prevention Interventions

“…Similar to other studies of challenges to health prevention in rural communities, participants highlighted the high prevalence of poverty and lack of transportation as important challenges. 14,51,52 Participants articulated three additional barriers salient for HIV prevention efforts in rural communities, including community social norms reflecting highly negative attitudes toward HIV/AIDS and a perceived lack of involvement by socially and politically influential community leaders. Others have noted that residents of rural communities hold more HIV-related stigma compared with urban communities.…”

“…The Southeast, particularly rural communities, is more socially and politically conservative with regard to sex, which may make program recruitment and implementation difficult or constrain the types of programs developed. 14,32 …”

“…12,13 Structural challenges such as the lack of geographic concentration of populations, limited transportation, and few health providers and facilities also make the delivery of health prevention interventions challenging. 14 For rural residents, boredom and lack of recreational facilities have also been identified as major issues influencing sexual initiation and behavioral patterns. 15 Rural adolescents, in particular, may be at higher risk for HIV infection compared with their nonrural peers owing to increased rates of early sexual debut, lack of condom use, and multiple sexual partners.…”

Sex trafficking of minors in metropolitan, micropolitan, and rural communities

“…For example, service providers and law enforcement personnel in rural communities were less likely to receive training on human trafficking, and to utilize recordkeeping procedures to distinguish human trafficking victims from other clients they served, compared to professionals in metropolitan communities (Newton et al, 2008). Second, geographic dispersion in rural communities can make detection and service provision more difficult because transportation is more limited and residents may be more isolated (Castaneda, 2000;Friedman, 2003).…”

Health Care Providers' Reports of Perceived Stigma Associated with HIV and AIDS in Rural and Urban Communities

“…More and more patients migrate to urban centers for specialty services (Larson & Hart, 2001), a trend that is predicted to increase in the future and that may become more pronounced for illnesses that are difficult to care for or stigmatized in the rural home community. The hesitation of rural residents to seek services for HIV or AIDS in rural communities is tied to inadequate services in rural areas (Castañeda, 2000;Wood, 2008) and to the reality that available services tend to be substandard clinical treatments (Rural Center for AIDS=STD Prevention, 2009).…”