AIDS prevention struggles in ethnocultural neighborhoods: why research partnerships with community based organizations can't wait.

Community based AIDS prevention programming and research in minority neighborhoods are growing. The AIDS epidemic has demoralized many minority communities and has added to enormously stressing social conditions. Obstacles to effective AIDS prevention programming must be removed before stable, accessible, and culturally relevant services can be provided. A pilot study was conducted to identify the obstacles to AIDS research or intervention in ethnic minority neighborhoods. Twenty-nine administrators and counselors from Community Based Organizations completed questionnaires concerning reasons for entering the field of AIDS prevention, enjoyment of work, hopefulness towards AIDS efforts, priority of AIDS funding, and opinions about most and least helpful prevention efforts in minority communities. Barriers identified as most problematic include insufficient funds, lack of culturally relevant materials, denial of the epidemic in minority communities, distrust of majority culture institutions, and myths/beliefs regarding AIDS contraction, transmission, and origin. Future research ideas are identified to improve culturally relevant AIDS prevention interventions in ethnocultural neighborhoods.