Religious Organizations' Responses to HIV/AIDS

描述(申请人提供)：约有100万美国人感染艾滋病毒/艾滋病，每年约有40,000人感染。自1980年代以来，宗教组织一直向艾滋病毒/艾滋病患者提供服务和支持，但参与和支持的程度各不相同。我们自己对近700名艾滋病毒/艾滋病患者的研究表明，灵性/宗教与患者的生活质量、生活满意度和抑郁症状有关，患者在面对艾滋病毒/艾滋病时变得更具灵性/宗教性，但宗教组织并不总是接受或支持寻求灵性/宗教的患者；在我们的研究中，24%的患者感到疏远，60%的患者在宗教组织中感到不受欢迎，10%的患者因为他们的艾滋病毒状况而改变了礼拜场所。不幸的是，人们对影响宗教组织对艾滋病毒/艾滋病立场的因素知之甚少，这些因素反映在特殊的方案和服务中，以及神职人员的态度和行为。我们提出了一项探索性研究，旨在描述宗教组织对艾滋病毒/艾滋病的反应的差异，特别是考察促进或抑制宗教组织参与与艾滋病毒/艾滋病相关的活动的因素以及宗教组织对艾滋病毒/艾滋病患者的支持。我们为期两年的研究将涉及大辛辛那提地区的神职人员和患者，并有3个目标：1)描述不同会众提供的艾滋病毒相关计划和服务，以及来自不同宗教会众的神职人员对艾滋病毒/艾滋病患者的态度；2)比较神职人员和艾滋病毒感染者个人对宗教组织对艾滋病毒/艾滋病患者的“欢迎”程度的看法；以及，3)检查宗教组织的人口统计、结构和意识形态特征，这些特征使他们或多或少有可能为艾滋病毒/艾滋病患者提供服务和支持。这项研究的目标将通过使用多方法方法测试艾滋病毒相关参与和支持的初步概念模型来实现。我们将从大辛辛那提地区的宗教组织中抽样调查神职人员(N=150)，并将访问来自辛辛那提大学和辛辛那提退伍军人医学中心的艾滋病毒/艾滋病患者，他们在会众中感到受欢迎和不受欢迎(N=30)。我们将使用面对面的半结构化访谈，基于之前经过验证的工具。神职人员问卷将包括宗教组织在艾滋病毒/艾滋病问题上的官方立场、提供的具体计划和服务，以及神职人员和会众对艾滋病毒/艾滋病患者的态度。这些患者将被问及他们与宗教组织有关的艾滋病毒/艾滋病的经历和看法。我们将使用回归技术来分析定量数据和检验我们的假设，我们将依靠内容分析来分析对开放式问题的回答，这旨在丰富对定量数据的解释，并检查我们概念模型中各种元素的本地有效性。我们的研究结果将提供重要的、多角度的观点，包括对艾滋病毒/艾滋病患者的态度、会众对艾滋病毒/艾滋病患者的欢迎程度，以及他们为艾滋病毒/艾滋病患者提供(或应该)什么类型的服务。这项研究将为今后的干预研究提供信息，这些研究旨在改善艾滋病毒/艾滋病患者的艾滋病毒预防工作和支助服务，以及艾滋病毒/艾滋病患者的应对和生活质量。我们的研究还可能为公共卫生官员提供信息，说明他们应该接触哪些宗教组织，以赞助与艾滋病毒有关的工作。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Approximately 1 million Americans are living with HIV/AIDS, and approximately 40,000 persons become infected each year. Religious organizations have been providing services and support to people with HIV/AIDS since the 1980s, but the levels of involvement and support have varied. Our own research involving a total of nearly 700 patients with HIV/AIDS indicates that spirituality/religion is associated with patients' quality of life, life satisfaction, and depressive symptoms and that patients become more spiritual/religious when faced with HIV/AIDS, but religious organizations are not always receptive to or supportive of patients seeking spirituality/religion; 24 percent of patients in our study felt alienated, 60 percent did not feel welcome in their religious organizations, and 10 percent changed their place of worship because of their HIV status. Unfortunately, little is known about the factors that shape religious organizations' stance on HIV/AIDS, as reflected in special programs and services, as well as clergy attitudes and behaviors. We propose an exploratory study that aims to describe variations in responses of religious organizations to HIV/AIDS and, in particular, examines the factors that foster or inhibit religious organizations' involvement in HIV/AIDS-related activities and religious organizations' supportiveness of people with HIV/AIDS. Our 2-year study will involve clergy and patients in the Greater Cincinnati area and has 3 aims: 1) to describe the HIV-related programs and services that are offered by various congregations and the attitudes of clergy from a variety of religious congregations toward people living with HIV/AIDS; 2) to compare the clergy's and the HIV-infected individuals' views of how "welcoming" religious organizations are of people living with HIV/AIDS; and, 3) to examine the demographic, structural, and ideological characteristics of religious organizations that make them more or less likely to offer services to and be supportive of people living with HIV/AIDS. The goals of this study will be achieved through testing a preliminary conceptual model of HIV-related involvement and supportiveness using a multimethod approach. We will survey clergy from a sample of religious organizations in the Greater Cincinnati area (N=150), and we will interview patients with HIV/AIDS from the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati VA Medical Centers who have (N=30) and have not (N=30) felt welcomed in their congregations. We will use face-to-face semi- structured interviews, based on previously validated instruments. The clergy questionnaire will include questions about religious organizations' official position on HIV/AIDS, specific programs and services being offered, and clergy's and congregants' attitudes toward people with HIV/AIDS. The patients will be asked questions about their experiences with and perceptions of religious organizations in relation to HIV/AIDS. We will use regression techniques to analyze quantitative data and test our hypotheses, and we will rely on content analysis to analyze responses to open-ended questions, which are intended to enrich the interpretation of quantitative data and to provide a check on the local validity of various elements of our conceptual model. Our findings will provide important, multi-perspective views on attitudes towards patients with HIV/AIDS, how welcoming congregations are towards patients with HIV/AIDS, and what types of services they do (or should) provide to patients with HIV/AIDS. The study will inform future intervention studies aimed at improving HIV prevention efforts and support services to people with HIV/AIDS, as well as coping and quality of life in patients with HIV/AIDS. Our study might also provide information to public health officials as to what kinds of religious organizations they should reach out to in order to sponsor HIV-related work.