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The Context of HIV Risk Among Drug Users and Their Sexual Partners

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ethnographic research <strong>and</strong> focus groups, it is possible to identify those<br />

information sources <strong>and</strong> community leaders whom such men respect <strong>and</strong><br />

find credible.<br />

CONCLUSION<br />

By targeting multiple, culturally appropriate approaches that seek to<br />

support abstinence from both recreational substance use <strong>and</strong> unprotected<br />

sexual intercourse, researchers may be able to prevent future epidemics <strong>of</strong><br />

sexually transmitted <strong>HIV</strong> <strong>and</strong> AIDS among specific at-risk populations.<br />

By simultaneously evaluating both the process <strong>and</strong> outcome <strong>of</strong> such<br />

interventions, researchers can learn how to mount more effective<br />

interventions <strong>and</strong> also improve the underst<strong>and</strong>ing <strong>of</strong> the mechanisms<br />

linking recreational substance use <strong>and</strong> <strong>HIV</strong>-transmitting sexual behaviors.<br />

NOTES<br />

1. Throughout this chapter, the abbreviation <strong>HIV</strong> is used to indicate<br />

<strong>HIV</strong>-1 (or the human immunodeficiency virus, type 1), the<br />

predominant form <strong>of</strong> <strong>HIV</strong> in all but Western Africa.<br />

2. <strong>The</strong> Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) in Chicago is<br />

performed at the Howard Brown Health Center <strong>and</strong> Northwestern<br />

University Medical School under the direction <strong>of</strong> John Phair, M.D.,<br />

<strong>and</strong> Joan Chmiel, Ph.D., <strong>and</strong> is supported by NIAID Contract #N01-<br />

Al-32535. <strong>The</strong> Coping <strong>and</strong> Change Study (CCS) <strong>of</strong> Men at-<strong>Risk</strong> <strong>of</strong><br />

AIDS is performed at the Chicago MACS study sites <strong>and</strong> the<br />

University <strong>of</strong> Michigan, under the direction <strong>of</strong> John Maassab, Ph.D.,<br />

David Ostrow, M.D., Ph.D., <strong>and</strong> Jill Joseph, Ph.D., M.D., <strong>and</strong><br />

supported by NIMH grant #R01 MH39346. I am extremely grateful<br />

to the MACS/CCS participants <strong>and</strong> the staff <strong>and</strong> investigators <strong>of</strong> both<br />

studies for making these observations possible. In particular,<br />

Wayne DiFranceisco, M.S., prepared the table <strong>and</strong> figures used in<br />

this chapter. By answering detailed questionnaires about sexual <strong>and</strong><br />

drug use behaviors every 6 months for almost 10 years, the study<br />

participants have generously permitted us to access the most intimate<br />

details <strong>of</strong> their lives. I hope that the resulting observations <strong>and</strong><br />

insights will help them <strong>and</strong> others in their battle to overcome <strong>and</strong><br />

recover from <strong>HIV</strong> infection.<br />

109

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