Faculty Collaboration Database

"Lifepoint": a case study in using social science community identification data to guide the implementation of a needle exchange program. AIDS Educ Prev 1999 Jun;11(3):187-202

Date

07/17/1999

Pubmed ID

10407453

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0032802969 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   10 Citations

Abstract

The public health benefits of needle exchange programs (NEPs) are well known. NEPs lower risk factors for HIV transmission by providing injection drug users (IDUs) with clean syringes and needles; harm reduction materials; and referrals to drug, sexually transmitted disease, mental health, and medical treatment facilities. While exchange programs continue to be implemented, there have been few reports illustrating how social science and community assessment research can be used to guide the development of NEPs. Using the Lifepoint needle exchange program in Milwaukee as a case study, this paper shows how social science methods can be used to understand IDU culture through the community identification process, link qualitative and observational findings to program decision making, and guide the implementation and operation of a needle exchange. The community identification process showed that there were different IDU subcultures in the city indicating that the NEP would need to be tailored to meet the distinctive needs of multiple drug use networks. Ethnographic field observations and key informant and systems representative interviews resulted in a two-stage NEP planning process that included a community task force on IDUs and of the development of methods to operationalize community assessment findings into the operating plan of the NEP. This process illustrates the importance of integrating a systematic community analysis in the planning of a NEP.

Author List

Somlai AM, Kelly JA, Otto-Salaj L, Nelson D

Author

Jeffrey A. Kelly PhD Professor in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
Adult
Community Participation
Costs and Cost Analysis
Female
HIV Infections
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Male
Needle Sharing
Needle-Exchange Programs
Research
Risk Factors
Sex Factors
Social Sciences
Substance Abuse, Intravenous
Wisconsin