When Communities Assess their AIDS Epidemics

Results of Rapid Assessment of HIV/AIDS in Eleven U.S. Cities

Contributions by Eric Goosby, Louis Kushnick, Robert T. Trotter II, Ric Curtis, Alix Conde, Maria Irizarry, Christina Wolf, Paul LaKosky, Elijah Ward, Lawrence J. Ouellet, William Eric Perkins, David Metzger, Arvilla Payne-Jackson, Barbara Hill, Karen Dodge, Barbara Feeney, Agatha P. Nelson, Patricia R. Todman, Louis Herns Marcelin, Bryan Page, Julie Eiserman, Halley Eisner-Freitas, Floyd Meeks Edited by Benjamin P. Bowser, Ernest Quimby, Merrill Singer University of Connecticut

Publication date:

16 April 2007

Length of book:

264 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

Dimensions:

241x161mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780739107522

When Communities Assess their AIDS Epidemics is a detailed ethnographic description of the AIDS epidemic in ten U.S. cities and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Employing a rapid ethnographic assessment methodology, cities from the Atlantic to the Pacific have implemented Project RARE (Rapid Assessment, Response, and Evaluation) efforts. These RARE projects examine the moving edge of the AIDS epidemic through descriptions of high-risk sites and identifications of segments of the populations at greatest risk. Utilizing a series of focus groups and street interviews, local field research teams gain an insider's perspective on HIV risk within social contexts. Dr. Benjamin P. Bowser, Dr. Ernest Quimby, and Dr. Merrill Singer have compiled these critical studies that analyze current conditions, challenges, and recommendations encountered by RARE. When Communities Assess their AIDS Epidemics is a powerful and engaging text that will appeal to those interested in public health and anthropology.

Chapter 1 Exploring the Boundaries of the AIDS Epidemic in the U.S.
Chapter 2 Rapid Assessment: A Method in Community-Based Research
Chapter 3 Responding to the AIDS Crisis in Newark, New Jersey
Chapter 4 AIDS Health Emergency in Chicago
Chapter 5 Confined Youth Try to Make it Real, Despite the Odds: RARE in Baltimore
Chapter 6 AIDS in Philadelphia: Emerging from the Shadow of Crack
Chapter 7 AIDS in the Shadow of Power: Washington, D.C.
Chapter 8 Rapid Assessment in Oakland: HIV, Race, Class, and Bureaucracy
Chapter 9 The AIDS Epidemic in Palm Beach County, Florida
Chapter 10 The Risks of Paradise: Project RARE and the Fight Against AIDS in the U.S. Virgin Islands
Chapter 11 The RARE Experience in Miami
Chapter 12 Twilight's Last Gleaning: Rapid Assessment of Late Night HIV Risk in Hartford, CT
Chapter 13 RARE Research in Preventing HIV among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Pima County, Arizona
Chapter 14 Conclusion: Assessing Primary, Secondary, and Future Benefits of Project RARE

These detailed portraits of the AIDS epidemic in 11 US cities help us understand the dire consequences of failing to control a deadly disease. This book is must reading for those interested in AIDS as well as all who are concerned by threats to America's health.