Understanding Connection Between HIV Transmission and Racial/ Ethnic and Geographical Differences Key to More Effective Interventions

Newswise — PHILADELPHIA (September 28, 2017) – The health effects of where people live, work, and interact are well documented, as are the value of neighborhood-level structural interventions designed to improve health. But place-based characteristics that contribute to disparities in HIV transmission and disease burden are poorly understood, possibly resulting in less-effective HIV risk reduction interventions and programming.

A new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing (Penn Nursing) is helping to better understand the contextual social and structural factors that drive disparate HIV/AIDS rates and how place-based interventions can be more effective in fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The 22-month pilot study – recently published in the Journal of Urban Health – explored racial/ethnic and geographic differences in mode of HIV transmission in Philadelphia, an urban HIV epicenter. Data indicated that certain geographic locations appear to have different modes of transmission profiles, with nuanced differences by gender and race/ethnicity.

“Underlying geographical factors that contribute to disparities in HIV transmission and disease burden are poorly understood,” explains Bridgette M. Brawner, PhD, APRN, Assistant Professor of Nursing, and the lead author of the study. “‘One size’ does not fit all for individual-level interventions; the same is true in disproportionately affected neighborhoods, particularly when risk profiles differ by neighborhood characteristics and population demographics. The data generated from this research support a much needed paradigm shift to acknowledge the role negative social and structural factors like limited social cohesion, inadequate health-related resources and poverty have on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The findings will also better inform the development of neighborhood-level structural interventions to address HIV/AIDS in overly burdened communities.” 

Co-authors of the study include: Penn Nursing’s Robin Stevens, PhD, MPH; Barbara Guthrie, PhD, RN, FAAN, Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University; Lynne Taylor, PhD, MS, Biostatistics Analysis Center at the University of Pennsylvania; Michael Eberhart, MPH, Philadelphia Department of Public Health; and Jean J. Schensul, PhD, Institute for Community Research at Yale University. The study was supported by funding through the National Institute of Mental Health R25MH087217.

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About the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing

The University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing is one of the world’s leading schools of nursing. For the second year in a row, it is ranked the #1 nursing school in the world by QS University, and has four graduate programs ranked number one by U.S. News & World Report, the most of any school in the United States. Penn Nursing is consistently among the nation’s top recipients of nursing research funding from the National Institutes of Health. Penn Nursing prepares nurse scientists and nurse leaders to meet the health needs of a global society through research, education, and practice. Follow Penn Nursing on: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram & YouTube.