Search results

To highlight and explain some characteristics of sport which can contribute to HIV/AIDS awareness as a part of comprehensive HIV/AIDS countermeasures. HIV/AIDS is among the most crucial of global issues, and sport is widely viewed as a possible vehicle to counter it. By using data from a Zimbabwe study, the chapter draws on several unique characteristics of sport which can help in combating challenging social problems.

Several characteristics of “awareness activities” in Zimbabwean baseball were observed. Some points are characteristics of sport itself, some are related specifically to baseball, and the others are, we can say, peculiar to the activities of the Zimbabwe Baseball Association (ZBA) and the Maxwell and Friends Foundation (MFF). As an awareness catalyst, sport has some unique characteristics, although we cannot say that promoting HIV/AIDS awareness through sport can always be effective for all fields. However, the worldwide increase in such activities shows certain advantages of using sport as an awareness tool.

This chapter shows some unique characteristics of sport in the field of HIV/AIDS awareness. It will contribute to the re-examination of sport from the perspective of Sport for Development and Peace (SDP).

The purpose of this paper is to describe the use of ICT to disseminate preventive health care information to combat the AIDS epidemic in India. The role of information professionals in various libraries and information centres and the challenges they are facing to increase HIV/AIDS awareness are discussed. Finally, recommendations are given and the conclusion is drawn that libraries and information professionals must develop AIDS literacy programmes to cater to the growing health information needs of the community.

Literature search, web site information and personal interaction with the key persons associated with various HIV/AIDS awareness projects.

Lack of knowledge about AIDS, its modes of transmission and ways to avoid infection, are major challenges in India. Staff in ICT‐based library and information centres can make a high impact on the local community by developing community‐based AIDS literacy programmes and hopefully save the society from an AIDS epidemic. There is a perceived need for providing health information services through public libraries to the illiterate rural population who are increasingly making themselves vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. However, awareness of e‐channels is low, especially in rural India; one solution is to increase take‐up and run AIDS awareness campaigns through electronic media.

A summary is provided of ICT‐based projects and initiatives by libraries and other agencies to disseminate AIDS information. Few multi‐type consortia have been formed in the USA and UK to develop AIDS databases and e‐learning modules are listed. These can be used as examples by Indian libraries with limited resources wishing to enhance community awareness through ICT. The concerted efforts amongst stakeholders are emphasized with the objectives of enhancing information professionals' skill in the AIDS information dissemination process.

Effective communication is a key factor in presenting Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) awareness and prevention campaigns, and delivering treatment programmes, particularly in South Africa where different ethnic groups and a diversity of languages and educational attainment levels are encountered. Language is an important element of such communication. The purpose of this paper is to examine the communication effectiveness of AIDS-related intervention messages.

Case-based semi-structured interviews, with 42 employees from three construction organisations, and with six telephone counsellors from a service provider, were used to explore language in the HIV/AIDS context in the construction industry in the Western Cape region.

Workers’ knowledge about HIV (a key element in prevention and willingness to engage in treatment regimes) tended to align with their level of education. African cultures may inhibit the use of plain language about AIDS. Graphic posters with text in different languages were the most preferred communication media, but need periodic refreshment to remain effective. For toolbox talks and other company presentations, a comprehensive approach to language differences is limited, and appropriate confirmatory feedback loops are not used – the message sent is not always the message received. The recruitment and training processes for service provider counsellors ensure a more comprehensive grasp of HIV knowledge and a more consistent approach to communication.

Construction organisations should be more careful in their HIV/AIDS campaigns and programmes, ensure better targeting of audiences and pay more nuanced and sensitive attention to language needs, gender differences and cultural contexts with respect to communicating with workers in ways that engage them more fully about HIV/AIDS, stigma and disclosure.

Communication effectiveness is pivotal in the provision of intervention management by construction firms. Ineffective language and communication processes directly and adversely influence HIV/AIDS intervention management success.

The purpose of the paper is to analyze the low status of women as being a major contributor for the observed gender inequality in the spread of HIV/AIDS in India.

The paper uses data from National Aids Control Organization, National Family Health Survey, and the Directorate of Economics and Statistics.

This study highlights the problems facing women in deterring the spread of HIV/AIDS in India. The status and empowerment of women are important variables in combating the disease among both men and women in India. Literacy, education, exposure to the media, labor market participation, awareness of HIV/AIDS, and economic independence are important considerations in improving the status of women in India. Policymakers need to focus on gender inequality in order to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS in India.

While absolute figures indicate men are more likely to be infected with HIV/AIDS, the rate of decline is higher for men compared to women in India. We explore several plausible explanations for such observed inequality in the spread of HIV/AIDS across gender. In particular, a potentially important factor – the low status of women in society is attributable as an impediment to the spread of the disease. A case study of the relationship between gender empowerment and the spread of HIV/AIDS in the state with the highest concentration, Manipur, provides more insight to the difficulties faced by women in combating HIV/AIDS in India.

This paper aims to investigate the level of HIV/AIDS information among undergraduate students at two university colleges in Tanzania, and its role in changing risky sexual behaviour.

In total, 151 undergraduate students from Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College and Moshi University College of Cooperative and Business Studies were surveyed by means of a questionnaire.

Of respondents 86 per cent were aware of the pandemic and its modes of transmission. The main sources of information were books, journals, magazines, television, internet, DVD/CD, radio and research reports. A total of 32 per cent reported having tested for HIV/AIDS; 40 per cent use condoms during sexual intercourse. Among condom users 63 per cent used them consistently. Factors hindering the use of HIV/AIDS information include the time spent on studies, the unavailability of the information, and the religious, cultural and family background of respondents.

In a country with over 30 university and university colleges, generalization is not possible on the basis of research restricted to a small number.

Universities should establish partnerships and networks with various stakeholders to ensure access to HIV/AIDS information and to share experiences.

The level of HIV/AIDS information among Tanzanian undergraduates is under‐investigated. This paper helps to fill some of the gaps in the research.

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) (2001) urges African leaders to take responsibility for revitalizing and extending the provision of education, technical training and health services with high priority given to tackling HIV/AIDS, TB and other communicable diseases. The International Labor Organization (ILO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) both agree that occupational health and safety in Africa needs strengthening. In support of this realization are the need to maintain and promote workers' health and working capacity. The fight against HIV/AIDS in the workplace is a continental priority. In the absence of any other definitive or similar study, this study aims to establish a valid baseline assessment of the levels of knowledge, types of attitudes, perceptions and beliefs of older construction workers in South Africa regarding HIV infection and AIDS. This paper reports only on findings concerning the level of knowledge and awareness of HIV/AIDS among older construction workers as determined during the first phase of an exploratory study commenced in August 2002. Older construction workers generally had acceptable levels of correct knowledge, perceptions and attitudes on most issues relative to the disease. However, their employers had not played a major contributory role. The study highlighted several areas where older workers either had incorrect and deficient knowledge and attitudes or demonstrated high levels of uncertainty.

The paper aims is to investigate human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and human resources (HR) management in Thai business organizations listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). The first such survey was reported on in 1998.

Data were collected through questionnaires mailed twice to 534 HR managers, yielding 211 usable responses (39.5 per cent).

Findings of both surveys were compared to identify changes. HIV/AIDS is not perceived to be a serious problem by Thai business organizations, and their executives do not view HIV/AIDS as an important workplace issue. This reflects an improvement since 1998. HR management has also improved. These improvements are due, in part, to national policies driven by Thai public institutions more than a decade ago. While there are improvements, there is still room for improvement. Many Thai business organizations still do not prepare themselves, policy‐wise, to deal with HIV/AIDS systematically.

The data were based on the perceptions of HR managers; SET organizations are leading business organizations in Thailand, but most businesses are small to medium‐sized; as HIV/AIDS is a sensitive issue. The real number of HIV/AIDS cases may not be accurate; while the two surveys included the same population, there is no way to know whether the same companies responded, so differences may not be real; and the number of companies in the food and beverage industry is under‐represented as respondents.

The paper may be useful to business companies, especially Thai; government agencies; and non‐government agencies by understanding their critical roles in curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS.

The paper findings may help businesses understand the HIV/AIDS situation in Thailand and their critical role in curbing the spread of HIV/AIDS and lessening the difficulties that HIV/AIDS people face. They may also help government, public, and private HIV/AIDS‐prevention advocates to find ways to work together with business companies to strengthen and maintain HIV/AIDS policies and practices that can help control HIV/AIDS as Thailand has done in the recent past.

Two research questions are addressed: what are black female college students’ perceptions of current messages present on web sites about HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention?; and what messages do black female college students find culturally relevant to them, and why? Results indicate that these women perceive several communication barriers including lack of trust and unfamiliarity with information sources, stigma ascribed to HIV, as well as misconceptions and traditional values held by some in the black community and health institutions. HIV prevention messages are perceived as relevant if they exhibit qualities including interactive features. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

To understand black collegiate women as health information seekers, it is important to engage paradigms that allow researchers to make sense of how group members construct their content needs, what helps shape this construction, and the meaning derived from the consumption of the information, focus groups are an effective qualitative method for enabling collective discussion and interaction between research participants that facilitates the exploration of under-researched topics like HIV prevention as well as the language commonly used by respondents to describe HIV from a socio-cultural perspective. The research team conducted three focus groups to appraise current black female college students’ attitudes and perceptions of messages presented on HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness web sites

HIV prevention messages are perceived as relevant if they exhibit qualities including interactive features, practical advice using non-technical vocabulary, content authored and disseminated by familiar and trustworthy individuals and institutions, and risk related to individual behaviors rather than the demographic group. Implications of the findings and suggestions for future research on the design of health information systems are provided.

This research is based on a small sample size based on one region of the USA.

Health communication materials should also provide strategies for dispelling myths, and combating feelings of stigma, and mistrust. In addition, practical advice such as questions to ask physicians may help to produce positive and desirable outcomes as black women seek services from the healthcare system. The message itself must take into account a number of factors include short and simple messages, clean web pages, navigation structures that make information easy to find, comprehensive information all found in a single web site, and interactive features to facilitate discussion and sharing. In particular, with social media, women can also play a role in the creation and dissemination of health messages in multiple modalities including text, spoken word, still and moving images, and music.

“A major component of preventive health practice is the availability and provision of information regarding risks to health and promotional measures for enhancing the health status among this population” (Gollop, 1997, p. 142). However, as Dervin (2005) cautions, while information is necessary, it is insufficient to encourage behavior change. To combat the health disparities that differentially impact African-American women requires expertize and understanding from multiple perspectives. By providing insight into how black collegiate women perceive HIV prevention information needs, the women in the focus groups lend a necessary voice in the effort toward healthy equity through the creation of effective health interventions that will appeal to them.

The author seeks to create an online and socially connected experience characteristic of ongoing user input and active engagement in content development which targets the population. From a human-computer interaction viewpoint, the authors are seeking to avoid design divorced from context and meaning. In developing such an experience, the authors will need to triangulate the roles of culture, context, and design to reduce the content divide, yet amplify the notion of participatory web. Participatory web embodies a social justice movement to build web content from voices typically dampened in the discourse. It (re)shapes meaning, identity, and ecologies in the process of foci on particular social, health, and political causes (e.g. HIV/AIDS). Giving black women ownership over the creation of health information on the internet may improve the ability to provide targeted HIV prevention content that is culturally salient and more effective in reducing HIV infections in this community.

Catalogues how Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are meeting, individually, the AIDS epidemic with governmental and non‐governmental organizations (NGOs). Uses data from the United Nations and World Bank. Gives background of NGOs in East Africa and their field work. Concludes that the social dimensions of each country are very restrictive in slightly differing ways, with the various religious beliefs also having an effect which is deleterious in nature. States that, even so, there are more similarities than there are differences in the three countries.

HIV/AIDS has implications of varying severity across a wide spectrum of businesses in South Africa. Financial accountability is therefore required to enable investors and other stakeholders to be advised regarding the effect of HIV/AIDS on company performance and to make informed decisions. This paper explores financial accountability with regard to HIV/AIDS. It investigates top management’s awareness, coping strategies and financial information (available and required) that is communicated internally and to stakeholders. Its empirical content concentrates on major public companies that operate in industries in which HIV/AIDS is known to be present. It reveals that companies are informed and pragmatic. However, many do not engage in legally permissible prevalence testing, and thereby frustrates attempts at a clear definition of the problem and at forecasting. Most companies are therefore unable to project what the effect of HIV/AIDS on future performance and profitability will be. The paper concludes that, although HIV/AIDS receives attention in terms of corporate governance, there is an absence of financial accountability via annual reports and financial statements. Many companies have no information available, while others may elect not to disclose it.