ENV-05

Note :Discussion 250-300 words about question 3 (Ted talk video or File attached  Hounton et al 2005 condom use in Benin and HBM.pdf

· Attached Files:

·  Hounton et al 2005 condom use in Benin and HBM.pdf (258.755 KB)

1. Champion, V. L., & Skinner, C. S. (2008). The Health Belief Model (Chapter 3, pp. 45-65). In K. Glanz, B. K. Rimer, & K. Viswanath (Eds.), Health behavior and health education, 4th ed.

2. Hounton, S. H., Carabin, H., & Henderson, N. J. (2005). Towards an understanding of barriers to condom us in rural Benin using the Health Belief Model: A cross sectional survey. BMC Public Health, 5(8).  

3. TED talk video by Elizabeth Pisani on Sex, drugs, and HIV located at http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_pisani_sex_drugs_and_hiv_let_s_get_rational_1

4. Continue to read at your own pace:  Farmer, P. (2013). To Repair the World. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.

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TED Talk to accompany lecture 5

"Elizabeth Pisani: Sex, drugs and HIV -- let's get rational" - TED Talk by Epidemiologist Elizabeth Pisani to accompany lecture and reading materials for

Post one ( 25o words )

People get HIV because they do stupid things”...

Spoiler Alert: I love TED talks and I’ve always been very interested in the psychology surrounding HIV/AIDS so I’m really going to nerd out on this one. This video really helped me put into perspective something that I have struggled to grasp more than once. Which is, why would people ever engage in risky behaviors that they KNOW can lead to acquiring HIV? I’m a long-time member of the LGBTQ community and I have several male friends that are homosexual. It’s no secret that percentage-wise gay men are more likely to be exposed to HIV, yet I still know plenty people who don’t use condoms. It isn’t rational, and that is the point that Elizabeth Pisani is trying to make. People just don’t make rational decisions when it comes to drugs and sex.

The thing that really blew my mind with this video were the differences in the public health approach to HIV in U.S. vs. other countries. I had never heard of Margaret Thatcher’s needle exchange program, (which is such a great idea in my opinion) but from a public health perspective it makes SO MUCH SENSE. In the video Elizabeth Pisani points out that the costs of healthcare for people who have HIV/AIDs is probably much higher than the price of preventatively giving out free unused needles. In the United States we don’t employ these types of programs despite the overwhelming support that these programs are effective, because our politicians are too worried about what the public will think if they are helping out junkies and gays. I don’t want to get on the slippery slope of talking about politics, but what (if any) other public health issues in the United States can you think of that are hindered by politics? I had never thought about it but I’m sure that HIV isn’t the only instance of this happening

Post two ( 250 words)

I thought that TED video by Elizabeth Pisani had some very interesting points related to the Health Belief Model. It's interesting that the issue is not due to a lack of knowledge, or even lack of perceived susceptibility, but because of the perceived barriers. One major barrier is that if an individual is caught with their own needles on them, they will go to jail. So due to their current circumstances, picking a dirty needle over going to jail is perfectly rational. This helps me to understand that it could be completely useless to spend the time and energy into educating an individual or community about prevention measures, if you don't take the time to understand their culture and what they value, and why they value it on a day to day basis. For example, you may educate someone about the importance of eating healthy food and how bad the severity of diabetes or a heart attack could be if they don't start eating better, but if you don't ask them what is keeping them from eating healthier food, you may not realize that it is because they live in poverty and are struggling to even keep their house. When an individual is in survival mode, they are not looking at the long term picture, they are trying to get by day to day. I still do believe that education regarding susceptibility and severity is very important, I just think that we would be doing a disservice to our communities if we just left them with the knowledge and not the means to know how to go about getting past their barriers and to move on to cues to action and then the ultimate goal of self-efficacy. Can you think of another example in your community where the perceived barriers are the leading factor to making change?