Establishing a framework for inter-disciplinary research in HIV/AIDS: entering the community.
Int Conf AIDS 1993 Jun 6-11; 9:131 (abstract no. WS-D28-3) Ahlberg BM, Kimani VN, Krantz I, Kirumbi LW, Persson G; Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Multi-disciplinary health research has in practice meant that research problems are defined by biomedical disciplines. Social scientists are invited to operate within the biomedical paradigm. AIDS research in Africa has been dominated by the biomedical paradigm. Biomedical research has established an infectious etiology, identified groups at risk and enabled medical scientists to monitor the trend of the disease. The contribution of social science has been modest and narrow in focus. Few studies have made genuine efforts to balance the tools of biomedical and social sciences for a better understanding of the HIV/AIDS problem leading to design of more appropriate control strategies. This paper describes some of the initiatives being made in a community study on prevention of HIV/STD among young people in Central Kenya. From the start, when the research problem was defined and planned, there was an attempt for a multi-disciplinary approach with a balance between biomedical and social science. The various problems could thus be addressed appropriately at each stage of the research process. The research problem made it obvious that the social scientists should take a leading role and start by mapping out the community to identify appropriate community entry points and create the research framework. Entering the research community is in this case a methodologically important part of the research process and will be described in detail. The results will be more inter-disciplinary.
Keywords: AEGIS, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, HIV Infections, Social Sciences, Research, Health Education, Health, Health Behavior, Health Promotion, Public Health Administration, Africa, Kenya, ICA9 930606
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