January 31, 2024 – On February 7, CHIPTS will join partners across the U.S. in observing National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD), a day to acknowledge how HIV disproportionately affects Black people and recognize the significant progress made by Black communities towards reducing HIV.
NBHAAD encourages us to reflect on the impact racism, discrimination, and mistrust within the health care system have on engagement in HIV treatment and care among Black Americans. These experiences can also discourage open conversations with providers and among sex partners about important topics like HIV status and testing. We must work together to address these and other systemic barriers to HIV services impacting Black communities.
HIV.gov outlined a collective path towards progress with this year’s NBHAAD theme: “Engage, Educate, Empower: Uniting to End HIV/AIDS in Black Communities.”
- Engage: Discussing ways to better involve the black community in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment efforts. This can include outreach programs, community partnerships, and utilizing local leaders and influencers to promote HIV testing and destigmatize the conversation around HIV/AIDS.
- Educate: Focusing on improving HIV/AIDS education among black youth and adults. This could cover the latest research, treatment options, understanding of PrEP and PEP medications, and debunking myths that contribute to stigma and discrimination.
- Empower: Highlighting success stories and strategies that have effectively empowered black individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Empowerment can be through advocacy, policy change, access to care, and support systems.
As an AIDS Research Center dedicated to reducing health disparities, CHIPTS is also excited to share recent research from our Center scientists that can inform community and public health efforts to improve outcomes for Black Americans across the HIV prevention and care continua.
- Boyd, D. T., Nelson, L. E., Hill, M. J., Whitfield, D., Ramos, S. R., Akyirem, S., Emel, L., Wilton, L., Hightow-Weidman, L., Shoptaw, S., Magnus, M., Mayer, K. H., Piwowar-Manning, E., Wallace, S. E., Fields, S. D., & Wheeler, D. P. (2023). Examining the Role of Autonomy Support, Goal Setting, and Care Coordination Quality on HIV PrEP Adherence in Black Men Who Have Sex with Men: HPTN 073. AIDS patient care and STDs, 37(1), 22–30. https://doi.org/10.1089/apc.2022.0139
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Wagner, G. J., Bogart, L. M., Klein, D. J., Lawrence, S. J., Goggin, K., Gizaw, M., & Mutchler, M. G. (2023). Culturally Relevant Africultural Coping Moderates the Association Between Discrimination and Antiretroviral Adherence Among Sexual Minority Black Americans Living with HIV. AIDS and behavior, 10.1007/s10461-023-04233-7. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-023-04233-7
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Malika, N., Bogart, L. M., Mutchler, M. G., Goggin, K., Klein, D. J., Lawrence, S. J., & Wagner, G. J. (2023). Loneliness Among Black/African American Adults Living with HIV: Sociodemographic and Psychosocial Correlates and Implications for Adherence. Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities, 10.1007/s40615-023-01712-4. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-023-01712-4
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Ramos, S. D., Vincent, W., Siconolfi, D. E., Pollack, L. M., Horvath, K. J., Campbell, C. K., Tebbetts, S., Kegeles, S. M., & Storholm, E. D. (2023). Differential Associations of Depressive Symptomology to HIV Care Engagement Among Young Black Sexual Minority Men with HIV (YBSMM+) in the US South: A Multi-Group Analysis of Mood, Intimate Partner Violence, and Alcohol Use. AIDS and behavior, 10.1007/s10461-023-04186-x. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-023-04186-x
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Storholm, E. D., Ogunbajo, A., Nacht, C. L., Opalo, C., Horvath, K. J., Lyman, P., Flynn, R., Reback, C. J., Blumenthal, J., Moore, D. J., Bolan, R., & Morris, S. (2024). Facilitators of PrEP Persistence among Black and Latinx Transgender Women in a PrEP Demonstration Project in Southern California. Behavioral medicine (Washington, D.C.), 50(1), 63–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/08964289.2022.2105794
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Hotton, A. L., Lee, F., Sheeler, D., Ozik, J., Collier, N., Edali, M., Ardestani, B. M., Brewer, R., Schrode, K. M., Fujimoto, K., Harawa, N. T., Schneider, J. A., & Khanna, A. S. (2023). Impact of post-incarceration care engagement interventions on HIV transmission among young Black men who have sex with men and their sexual partners: an agent-based network modeling study. Lancet regional health. Americas, 28, 100628. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2023.100628
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Hong, C., Ochoa, A. M., Wilson, B. D. M., Wu, E. S. C., Thomas, D., & Holloway, I. W. (2023). The associations between HIV stigma and mental health symptoms, life satisfaction, and quality of life among Black sexual minority men with HIV. Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation, 32(6), 1693–1702. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-023-03342-z
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Morehead-Gee, A., Üsküp, D. K., Omokaro, U., Shoptaw, S., Harawa, N. T., & Heilemann, M. V. (2023). Relating ‘to her Human Side’: a Grounded Theory analysis of cosmetologists’ and aestheticians’ relationships with clients in Black American beauty salons to inform sexual health interventions. Culture, health & sexuality, 25(9), 1180–1197. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2022.2141331
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Small, L. A., Godoy, S. M., & Lau, C. (2023). Perceptions of healthcare accessibility and medical mistrust among Black women living with HIV in the USA. Culture, health & sexuality, 25(10), 1295–1309. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2022.2155706