Perspectives on HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination: voices of some young people in Ghana

This paper examines Ghanaian young people's perceptions of the determinants of HIV- and AIDS-related stigma and discrimination, and how these perceptions may influence the de-stigmatisation process. Drawing on findings from an in-depth, multi-method qualitative study involving 104 school and street young people aged between 14 and 19 years, the paper presents young people's accounts of HIV and AIDS. The paper provokes discussion on how language and images associated with existing educational programmes on HIV and AIDS place young people in a dilemma. It also argues that fear and secrecy associated with the disease not only consolidate stigmatisation and discrimination, but also create the desire for retribution. It concludes by challenging health educators to pay particular attention to the language and images used in future educational programmes.     

A cross-cultural collaborative: creating textbooks and learning materials and a sustainable partnership for African children

Abstract

This article describes a case study of the South Carolina State University (SCSU)-Zanzibar Textbook and Learning Materials Program (TLMP). A Needs Assessment Plan (NAP), consisting of interviews, observations and debriefings, and including a Rapid Needs Assessment (RNA), was implemented to determine the need for textbooks and learning materials. The purpose of the collaborative was to support capacity building in Zanzibar and provide textbooks and learning materials for children in this Sub-Saharan African region. The outcomes were achieved by developing, publishing, and delivering approximately one million culturally relevant textbooks for secondary students, as well as supplementary learning materials. Some of the Education For All (EFA) goals served as a guide for the TLMP's commitment to improve education and social awareness (i.e., gender, HIV/AIDS), and professional development through textbooks. Methodological considerations were framed by case study processes for a) describing, monitoring and analyzing causal effects, and b) a participatory research approach. The methods promoted an equitable process, giving voice to all participants. Consistent with the findings, results were culturally relevant textbooks and improved capacity for Zanzibari participants. Thus, a comprehensive process evolved, resulting in a sustainable partnership between SCSU and Zanzibari stakeholders. The success of the project was confirmed at an historic ceremonial event, Biology textbooks and learning materials were delivered in January 2008, and Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics textbooks are scheduled to be delivered in September 2008.     

艾滋病态度量表在大学生群体中的修订

研究旨在采用Shrum艾滋病态度量表,修订适合中国大学生群体的测量工具。修订量表共19个项目,信效度良好,可作为我国大学生艾滋病态度的测评工具。研究发现,中国大学生艾滋病态度,在性别、学科和年级上不存显著差异。     

School-based reproductive health and safety education for students aged 12–15 years in UNESCO’s (2009) International Technical Guidance

Globally, adolescents aged 12–15 years are making sexual and reproductive decisions of profound significance for their future, often based on misguided, inadequate or dangerously wrong information. Very few countries provide evidential and comprehensive education about puberty, sexuality, and reproductive health and safety to children and young adolescents at school, when it is most effective and beneficial. UNESCO has produced a culturally applicable framework for such education, with the primary aim of reducing sexual risk behaviour and sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS. This study analyses the 2009 International Technical Guidance for its appropriateness, relevance and contemporaneity to this young teenage cohort, who are at most risk of the consequences of ignorance.     

武汉地区艾滋病病毒感染者与患者的社会支持及应对方式的相关性调查

目的探讨人口统计学资料与疾病相关因素,领悟社会支持与应对方式之间的相关性。方法采用问卷调查法,对湖北省武汉地区68名艾滋病病毒感染者与患者进行调查分析。结果积极应对与性别、居住地、文化程度、朋友支持、其他支持、总社会支持之间存在显著相关;消极应对与文化程度、过去一月经历的症状、家庭支持、朋友支持、其他人的支持、总社会支持之间存在显著相关。结论艾滋病病毒感染者与患者采取的应对方式与人口统计学资料、疾病相关因素及社会支持有关,医务工作者应注重评估影响艾滋病病毒感染者与患者应对方式的相关因素,并采取针对性的干预措施以鼓励艾滋病病毒感染者与患者采取积极的方式去应对。     

试论阳虚在艾滋病病因病机中的重要性

中医认为,艾滋病病因主要为艾滋病疫毒侵袭,邪毒渐进而正气渐弱,处于正邪交争状态。本虚标实、虚实夹杂是中医学者所公认的艾滋病基本病机,文章认为阳虚始终贯穿于艾滋病的病因病机中,正气虚主要是阳虚。     

体育锻炼与艾滋病患者的心理健康

体育锻炼与心理健康之间有着密切的联系,科学的体育锻炼更有利于促进人的心理健康发展。通过对目前AIDS患者普遍存在的心理问题形成原因的分析,旨在揭示体育锻炼对于促进和改善AIDS患者心理健康的理论机制。     

Continuous Absenteeism among Teachers Living with HIV/AIDS: Perceptions of School Principals

Abstract

Education is an indispensable tool for total economic emancipation in Africa and elsewhere. Thus, it is a great cause for concern that teachers, who are the main drivers of education, are so strongly affected by HIV/AIDS. A large part of the profound impact of HIV/AIDS is felt in education and threatens the quality of education. The study reported on examined how principals are managing the challenges caused by absenteeism among teachers living with HIV/AIDS. A narrative inquiry design situated in the qualitative research approach was used together with narrative interviews to elicit qualitative data. The study was embedded within the social constructivist paradigm. Transformational leadership and ethics of care formed the theoretical framework of the study. The qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the data. The key findings reveal how principals maintain quality of instructional effectiveness through substituting sick and absent teachers using a relief system. They also support, empower and advise teachers. Principals should be provided with support from the Department of Education (DoE) to replace teachers timeously before teaching and learning are disrupted.     

大学生艾滋病健康教育模式效果评价研究

以湖南人文科技学院大学生为研究对象，按大众传媒教育模式、专业教育模式、同伴教育模式3种不同健康教育模式分组进行实验，探讨切实可行的大学生艾滋病健康教育模式，为健康教育提供理论依据。结果表明：大学生艾滋病健康教育在内容和形式的设置上，更贴近实际要求，切实可行的教育模式是以同伴教育为主，结合专业教师指导，辅以大众传媒宣传，三者互补长短，可达到最佳的效果。     

Journalism,Moral Panic and the Public Interest

The public interest is commonly presumed to be fundamental to the practice of journalism. Journalists and the media organizations for which they work routinely assume that they are able to identify what is in the public interest, and act accordingly. This article explores notions of the public interest in the context of a particular case study, that of Sharleen Spiteri, an HIV-positive sex worker who appeared on the Australian national current affairs television programme 60 Minutes in 1989 and admitted that she sometimes had unprotected sex with clients. As a consequence of the ensuing wave of moral panic, she was forcibly detained in a locked AIDS ward and a mental asylum. After she was released she was kept under 24-hour surveillance for the remaining 15 years of her life. In 2010, the authors of this article produced a radio documentary for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation about Sharleen Spiteri's case. The authors argue that her story raises some important and difficult questions for the ethical practice of journalism. They analyse the role of journalists and politicians involved in Sharleen's case, and show that their belief that they were acting in the public interest played into well-established historical narratives linking sex workers with disease and dissolution, with disastrous consequences for Sharleen herself. The authors argue that a more reflexive and responsible conception of the public interest for journalists requires them to pay more careful attention to the voices and perspectives of people who are excluded from participation in the public sphere.