The Role of Community in Meeting the Needs of African-American HIV-Affected Families

Using qualitative methods, university researchers enlisted the participation and collaboration of community residents to assess the service needs of HIV-affected families in an inner-city African-American community with a high seroprevalence of HIV/AIDS. Community members infected with and affected by HIV/AIDSparticipated in interviews and reviewed and refined the preliminary findings. The participants were concerned by the lack of HIV/AIDScommunity services that were family-sensitive, i.e., addressed the stresses and concerns of those people who provide support and care for a person with HIV. Participants identified community awareness and education as critical to serving those infected and affected. Denial and stigma in the community need to be addressed concurrently with the development of specific services for HIV-affected families.