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Education Activities for HIV

Given the 2008 UNAIDS estimate that 33.4 million people worldwide are currently living with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), HIV education activities are vital in helping to reduce new infections. Effective HIV education activities not only depend on accuracy of information, but also on the types of activities a teacher facilitates. Other crucial considerations include context and audience profile.

  1. Activity Types

    • Avert suggests four basic types of HIV education activities, which focus on fact sharing, HIV transmission modes, attitudes toward HIV and sex in relation to HIV. Ideal activities combine components of all four of the activity types. When a teacher facilitates fact-based activities, she aims to provide accepted bio-medical, social, and cultural facts about HIV while dispelling common misinformation. The teacher may administer a quiz and/or facilitate an interactive group assessment of statements about HIV followed by a discussion. Transmission education activities set out to teach people about HIV transmission modes. Avert's "Transmission Runaround" is an example of such activities. In this case, the teacher aims to gauge awareness of the different HIV transmission modes through having students identify true and false statements about HIV on a board. She follows this activity with a group discussion about correct and incorrect responses. Education activities that take on attitudes to HIV seek to deal with stigma and discrimination by enabling people to face their own HIV-related prejudices and stereotyping. The teacher can facilitate a three-step activity in which she separates students in groups where they : create a profile of an imaginary person; discover' the imaginary person tested positive for HIV; and consider and discuss the effects of HIV infection on the imaginary person. The teacher reconvenes the class and facilitates a discussion. The activity personalizes HIV for students, making them re-think their values and attitudes toward HIV. Sex and HIV education activities aim to teach students to discuss sex -- arguably the most embarrassing mode of HIV transmission to discuss -- in non-embarrassing and non-threatening terms. Activities like role-playing allow students to cover topics that include abstinence and the negotiation of safe sexual practices.

    Context

    • When a teacher determines the type of HIV education activity to do with students, she not only has a specific aim but also must take into account the context in which the activity takes place. The teacher's assessment of context includes awareness of the setting e.g. educational versus religious institution and open versus closed physical space and related time constraints. The teacher's understanding of the context in which she is teaching ensures that she observes social, cultural, and institutional sensitivities and creates a safe space for students to engage with HIV. The type of physical space helps a teacher determine the amount of movement by students and the degree of participation in groups or as individuals.

    Audience Profile

    • The teacher's knowledge of the audience's average age and level of knowledge ensures delivery of an appropriate level of information via a corresponding activity. The audience profile also informs the amount of time a teacher spends on the activity, which then also dictates the comprehensiveness of information covered by the education activity.

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