Ann O'Leary, PhD – författare

AIDS is the fourth leading cause of death among women of childbearing age and is increasing by about 8% a year in this group. * And yet, our understanding of the impact of HIV and AIDS on women's lives remains fragmented and incomplete. After a decade of struggling with mounting surveys of risk behavior, clinical trials, and behavioral interventions that were based primarily on experience with gay communities in large cities and, subsequently, on the needs of injection drug users, we have not given programs for women the attention they require if they are to be meaningful, effective, and gender appropriate. This book will introduce the reader to the range of complex issues of HIV and AIDS in women's lives. Ann O'Leary and Loretta Sweet Jemmott have assembled an impres­ sive list of authors who have contributed chapters from different disciplinary viewpoints. The reader will find information on prevention programs that have been effective for adolescent girls, on culturally specific strategies for African American and Latina women, and on the multiple issues of sub­ stance use and HIV that need to be faced by any outreach and intervention programs for drug-using women.

Although women were understudied in the early years of the epidemic, research and practice devoted to understanding and ameliorating the effects of the AIDS epidemic have begun in recent years. Women and AIDS is the first comprehensive exploration of the medical and psychosocial concerns and issues surrounding women living with HIV/AIDS. Contributors address the biomedical aspects of the disease, stress and coping factors, reproductive and childcare issues, access to care, needs of special populations such as drug-using women and adolescents, and policy recommendations. Researchers and students in psychology, public health, medicine, nursing, sociology, women's studies, and social work will appreciate this reference.

The HIV epidemic, now entering its third decade, has become the greatest threat to human health in history. Since the advent of this virus, male latex condoms have been the mainstay of prevention efforts. However, few find the prospect of a lifetime of condom use to be practical, appealing, or, in some instances, possible. A growing view in HIV prevention is that the one-size-fits-all approach may not be the most effective public health strategy. Rather, different approaches or combinations of approaches may be optimal for particular individuals in diverse life circumstances. Also, the simplistic prevention approaches of the past need to be strengthened based on the advances that have been made in behavioural, social, and biomedical science. This book describes a set of prevention strategies that do not solely rely on male condoms, including: the use of HIV antibody testing and "negotiated safety"; abstinence; control of sexually transmitted diseases; treatment advances as prevention; woman-controlled technologies; structural interventions; and psychopharmacology to assist with behaviour change.

Although women were understudied in the early years of the epidemic, research and practice devoted to understanding and ameliorating the effects of the AIDS epidemic have begun in recent years. Women and AIDS is the first comprehensive exploration of the medical and psychosocial concerns and issues surrounding women living with HIV/AIDS. Contributors address the biomedical aspects of the disease, stress and coping factors, reproductive and childcare issues, access to care, needs of special populations such as drug-using women and adolescents, and policy recommendations. Researchers and students in psychology, public health, medicine, nursing, sociology, women''s studies, and social work will appreciate this reference.

Our contemporary division of the progress of time should be delineated as B. A. E. (Before the AIDS Epidemic, i. e. , 1981) and P. A. E. Everyone keeps predicting the end of the epidemic, as Newsweek did in 1996 when combination therapy was introduced. But as far as we can tell from this vantage point, the virus continues, albeit a bit hobbled by a few drugs here and there, but moving forward nonetheless. Predictions are that over 100 million people will be infected with HIV by 2005. It is also clear that the number of people living with HIV in the US and other developed countries will continue to grow, as people with HIV live longer and better lives, but, paradoxically and perhaps as a result, the number of people acquiring HIV also continues to grow. HIV vaccines are at least 20, and perhaps 40 years away. When they do come on board, they may not prevent infection but may, instead, change the course of illness in those infected and hopefully render them less infectious. Further, the first vaccines will, in all likelihood, be less than 100% effective. The next generation of prevention strategies need to combine the best of biomedical, social, and behavioral approaches in order to protect the population. The male condom, along with reduction in the number of sexual partners or outright abstinence, have been the mainstay of HIV prevention.

Among U. S. racial and ethnic minority populations, African American communities are the most disproportionately impacted and affected by HIV/AIDS (CDC, 2009; CDC, 2008). The chapters in this volume seek to explore factors that contribute to this disparity as well as methods for intervening and positively impacting the e- demic in the U. S. The book is divided into two sections. The first section includes chapters that explore specific contextual and structural factors related to HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention in African Americans. The second section is composed of chapters that address the latest in intervention strategies, including best-evidence and promising-evidence based behavioral interventions, program evaluation, cost effectiveness analyses and HIV testing and counseling. As background for the book, the Introduction provides a summary of the context and importance of other infectious disease rates, (i. e. , sexually transmitted diseases [STDs] and tubercu- sis), to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in African Americans and a brief introductory discussion on the major contextual factors related to the acquisition and transmission of STDs/HIV. Contextual Chapters Johnson & Dean author the first chapter in this section, which discusses the history and epidemiology of HIV/AIDS among African Americans. Specifically, this ch- ter provides a definition for and description of the US surveillance systems used to track HIV/AIDS and presents data on HIV or AIDS cases diagnosed between 2002 and 2006 and reported to CDC as of June 30, 2007.

Among U. S. racial and ethnic minority populations, African American communities are the most disproportionately impacted and affected by HIV/AIDS (CDC, 2009; CDC, 2008). The chapters in this volume seek to explore factors that contribute to this disparity as well as methods for intervening and positively impacting the e- demic in the U. S. The book is divided into two sections. The first section includes chapters that explore specific contextual and structural factors related to HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention in African Americans. The second section is composed of chapters that address the latest in intervention strategies, including best-evidence and promising-evidence based behavioral interventions, program evaluation, cost effectiveness analyses and HIV testing and counseling. As background for the book, the Introduction provides a summary of the context and importance of other infectious disease rates, (i. e. , sexually transmitted diseases [STDs] and tubercu- sis), to HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in African Americans and a brief introductory discussion on the major contextual factors related to the acquisition and transmission of STDs/HIV. Contextual Chapters Johnson & Dean author the first chapter in this section, which discusses the history and epidemiology of HIV/AIDS among African Americans. Specifically, this ch- ter provides a definition for and description of the US surveillance systems used to track HIV/AIDS and presents data on HIV or AIDS cases diagnosed between 2002 and 2006 and reported to CDC as of June 30, 2007.

Although women were understudied in the early years of the epidemic, research and practice devoted to understanding and ameliorating the effects of the AIDS epidemic have begun in recent years. Women and AIDS is the first comprehensive exploration of the medical and psychosocial concerns and issues surrounding women living with HIV/AIDS. Contributors address the biomedical aspects of the disease, stress and coping factors, reproductive and childcare issues, access to care, needs of special populations such as drug-using women and adolescents, and policy recommendations. Researchers and students in psychology, public health, medicine, nursing, sociology, women's studies, and social work will appreciate this reference.

Our contemporary division of the progress of time should be delineated as B. A. E. (Before the AIDS Epidemic, i. e. , 1981) and P. A. E. Everyone keeps predicting the end of the epidemic, as Newsweek did in 1996 when combination therapy was introduced. But as far as we can tell from this vantage point, the virus continues, albeit a bit hobbled by a few drugs here and there, but moving forward nonetheless. Predictions are that over 100 million people will be infected with HIV by 2005. It is also clear that the number of people living with HIV in the US and other developed countries will continue to grow, as people with HIV live longer and better lives, but, paradoxically and perhaps as a result, the number of people acquiring HIV also continues to grow. HIV vaccines are at least 20, and perhaps 40 years away. When they do come on board, they may not prevent infection but may, instead, change the course of illness in those infected and hopefully render them less infectious. Further, the first vaccines will, in all likelihood, be less than 100% effective. The next generation of prevention strategies need to combine the best of biomedical, social, and behavioral approaches in order to protect the population. The male condom, along with reduction in the number of sexual partners or outright abstinence, have been the mainstay of HIV prevention.

AIDS is the fourth leading cause of death among women of childbearing age and is increasing by about 8% a year in this group. * And yet, our understanding of the impact of HIV and AIDS on women''s lives remains fragmented and incomplete. After a decade of struggling with mounting surveys of risk behavior, clinical trials, and behavioral interventions that were based primarily on experience with gay communities in large cities and, subsequently, on the needs of injection drug users, we have not given programs for women the attention they require if they are to be meaningful, effective, and gender appropriate. This book will introduce the reader to the range of complex issues of HIV and AIDS in women''s lives. Ann O''Leary and Loretta Sweet Jemmott have assembled an impres­ sive list of authors who have contributed chapters from different disciplinary viewpoints. The reader will find information on prevention programs that have been effective for adolescent girls, on culturally specific strategies for African American and Latina women, and on the multiple issues of sub­ stance use and HIV that need to be faced by any outreach and intervention programs for drug-using women.

AIDS is the fourth leading cause of death among women of childbearing age and is increasing by about 8% a year in this group. * And yet, our understanding of the impact of HIV and AIDS on women's lives remains fragmented and incomplete. After a decade of struggling with mounting surveys of risk behavior, clinical trials, and behavioral interventions that were based primarily on experience with gay communities in large cities and, subsequently, on the needs of injection drug users, we have not given programs for women the attention they require if they are to be meaningful, effective, and gender appropriate. This book will introduce the reader to the range of complex issues of HIV and AIDS in women's lives. Ann O'Leary and Loretta Sweet Jemmott have assembled an impres­ sive list of authors who have contributed chapters from different disciplinary viewpoints. The reader will find information on prevention programs that have been effective for adolescent girls, on culturally specific strategies for African American and Latina women, and on the multiple issues of sub­ stance use and HIV that need to be faced by any outreach and intervention programs for drug-using women.