The differences among Hartford
African American and Latino drug users and their impact
on HIV prevention is the topic of this month's Hartford
HIV Forum. The featured speaker is Margaret Weeks, Ph.D.,
associate director of research at the Institute for Community
Research, principal investigator of the Study of High
Risk Drug Use Settings, and co-investigator for Project
COPE (Community Outreach Prevention Effort). The forum
discussion takes place Tuesday, February 8 at 12:00 noon
at the Living Center, 1841 Broad Street. The event is
free and includes lunch with advance notification.
Weeks will talk about ethnic patterns in drug use, risk
behavior, and HIV prevalence based on findings from Project
COPE, a five-year federally funded study of 1,299 Hartford
drug users. She will also present data on social networks
and drug-use settings that are presently coming out of
Hartford's high risk drug-use sites. These data look at
the environment and social context within which people
use drugs and participate in other risky behavior, and
the connections among drug users and others who may be
at risk or infected.
"HIV rates were 50% among African American drug users
and 28% among Latino users tested in Project COPE,"
says Weeks. "We believe social networks may help
explain the difference in prevalence of HIV in these two
populations. At the same time, we're developing peer driven
interventions that use social network findings to understand
how prevention information can pass through networks to
reach people at risk, as well as the most effective areas
in these networks to target intervention."
This is the first lecture in the Spring 2000 series of
forums organized by the HIV Action Initiative and the
Institute for Community Research. The Hartford HIV Forum
meets from 12:00 noon to 1:30 p.m., usually on the first
Tuesday of each month. The goal of the forums is to give
the local community the most up-to-date information on
current topics in AIDS prevention, treatment, research
and care. For more information about the series, contact
Laurie Sylla at the HIV Action Initiative at 860-280-2493
or Peg Weeks at the Institute for Community Research at
860-278-2044 x229. |
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"HIV rates were 50% among African
American drug users and 28% among Latino users tested
in Project COPE. We believe social networks may help
explain the difference in prevalence of HIV in these
two populations."
Margaret Weeks Ph.D.
Associate Director of Research, ICR
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