AEGiS-05IAC: "Groups at risk" and "risk behaviors": the need to utilize both concepts in describing target populations for educational interventions and defining their objectives.

5th International AIDS Conference

Montreal, Quebec, Canada — Jun 4-9, 1989

"Groups at risk" and "risk behaviors": the need to utilize both concepts in describing target populations for educational interventions and defining their objectives.

Int Conf AIDS 1989 Jun 4-9; 5:162 (abstract no. A.508)
Shtarkshall RA; The Hebrew University & Hadassah Faculty of Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel

The central claim of the paper is that the two concepts, "groups at risk" and "risk behavior" are neither synonymous nor interchangeable, and that in order to describe target groups for educational or other interventions, both terms are needed. "Risk behavior" or its prevalence is only one component of the definition of a "group at risk;" its other component being the prevalence of HIV within that group. A comparison of two hypothetical groups, since the data on the sexual behavior of actual sub-groups are only approximate, will clarify the distinction between the two concepts.

TABULAR DATA, SEE ABSTRACT VOLUME.

Groups A and B approximate homosexuals/bisexuals and adolescents in Israel, respectively, while group C may represent the sub-population of hemophiliacs after the introduction of sterilized factors. It is argued that from the point of view of public health, health planning, and the design of educational interventions, both concepts are essential, since educational interventions for a group at future risk should differ from those for a group at immediate risk not only because of the characteristics of the group but also because of the characteristics of the risk. "Groups at risk" is therefore a useful and necessary term.

890604
A508