Voces de Fe y Cultura
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: Rates of new HIV infections among Latino bisexual and homosexual men, and heterosexual Latina women are staggering. Among Latinos, clergy and religion have an important role in the fight against HIV/AIDS. This one-year study uses innovative approaches to deepen the understanding of how religion and religious institutional context, coupled with Latino cultural and sexual norms, influence individual attitudes, beliefs, intentions, and behaviors related to HIV risk reduction and prevention. We hypothesize that congregants, working together with their church leaders, will be the catalysts for change toward more open, compassionate dialogues about HIV/AIDS, and more effective approaches to education and prevention within church settings. Therefore, this study seeks to answer the research questions: 1) How does religiosity impact effective HIV prevention strategies among Latino congregants and parishioners in Los Angeles County? And, 2) What denomination-specific and denomination-wide religious-centered strategies should be utilized to influence and inform the dialogue about HIV/AIDS among Latino church-going communities? An existing partnership between the Los Angeles faith-based community and The Wall-Las Memorias Project, a non-profit organization with a successful history of implementing innovative HIV prevention strategies, leadership training, and grassroots community organizing within Los Angeles, will be leveraged. A total of 138 clergy and congregants from the faith-based organizations involved in this partnership will be invited to participate in the study. Care will be taken to include representatives from the most popular denominations within which Latinos express their faith: Roman Catholic, “mainline” Protestant (Presbyterian, Lutheran, Episcopalian and Methodist), and Evangelical (Pentecostal, Covenant, Victory Outreach, and Assemblies of God) denominations. This study is innovative in that it broadens the representation historically found in studies involving the faith-based community. The Wall-Las Memorias Project will partner with the National Council of La Raza/California State University, Long Beach Center for Latino Community Health, Evaluation and Leadership Training to obtain scientific guidance on research design, methods and evaluation for the proposed project. Confidential focus groups will be held with congregants, including individuals who have been affected by HIV/AIDS through the death or illness of a loved one. In-depth interviews with clergy and congregants living with HIV/AIDS will be conducted. All participants will provide informed consent and study activities will take place in confidential settings outside the church. The data collected during the proposed study will be used to create a “guide” with suggested approaches to asking questions and raising issues related to HIV risk reduction and prevention within various church settings. Through this study, The Wall/Las Memorias aims to find that important balance to allow both church clergy and congregants to continue on their spiritual journey while raising pertinent questions and creating forums for dialogue that will empower them to create a process of change. This is an important contribution to the field of HIV prevention among Latinos in that the findings will serve as a foundation from which scientifically-based, culturally appropriate and supportive, faith-based intervention models will be constructed in the future.