Leading the Way:

Faith Leaders Taking Ownership to Address the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Asian and Pacific Islander American Communities

Taking Ownership of the HIV and AIDS Epidemic Among Asian and Pacific Islander Communities

Download Leading the Way Manual pdf (790624 bytes)

Executive Summary

The most recent surveillance report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2006 reports that Asians and Pacific Islanders (A&PI) are emerging as a group that is at risk for HIV infection. Similar to other ethnic groups including Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans, HIV infection rates continue to rise within A&PI communities. But sadly, the needs of this diverse community remain invisible in the mass media, as well as most national and local policy and advocacy agendas.

To address the need to develop HIV prevention strategies that focus on targeting the diverse Asian immigrant populations in New York, between July 2007 and February 2009, the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA) collaborated with Dr. John Chin, currently Associate Professor at the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning at Hunter College, CUNY, to design a tool that will help strategically engage religious and community leaders serving Asian immigrant communities to conduct HIV prevention and education work.

Because of their central and respected role within Asian immigrant communities, religious organizations can be particularly effective at reaching people who need to be educated about HIV but might otherwise not have access to the information or might not be open to it because of HIV-related stigma. In order to best meet our objectives, we first established an advisory board to counsel us on the type of intervention we should focus on, the optimal way to get information to structure the intervention, and once we had developed it, feedback on the intervention’s viability. Subsequently, a manual was developed to provide guidance to religious and community leaders interested in conducting HIV/AIDS awareness workshops in Asian immigrant religious communities.

The manual – “Leading the Way: Faith Leaders Taking Ownership to Address the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Asian and Pacific Islander American Communities,” covers a wide range of topics with a particular focus on the role of religion. The manual includes suggested exercises as well as lengthier informational sections that can be tailored to the audience and the timeframe. The manual was designed for use specifically in Buddhist, Christian and Muslim communities. In particular, it contains teachings from all three religions and can be tailored to address the concerns of each of them.

This manual was pilot-tested and later modified. Three trainers were recruited to apply the manual at their HIV education workshops. In total, these workshops reached more than 40 religious leaders and community members of the three groups mentioned.

The impact of this project was measured through pre- and post-surveys in three areas: knowledge in HIV/AIDS; attitude towards HIV; and attitudes toward involvement in HIV prevention and support efforts. After the workshops, participants, on average, improved their knowledge scores by more than two additional correct answers.

Participants also showed 100% support to their organization’s involvement in HIV prevention and education workshop, which was already very high prior to the workshop. Attitudes towards HIV/AIDS, however, did not change significantly.

Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese versions are available upon request.

Download Leading the Way Manual pdf (790624 bytes)

For further information, please contact:
Esther W. Y. Lok
Assistant Director of Policy, Advocacy and Research and Senior Policy Analyst for HIV and AIDS
Cell: 212.729.8838
Direct: 212.801.1312
Email: esther@fpwa.org