HIV Health Literacy Education (HALTRA-EDU): Strategies to Promote Social Acceptance toward People Living with HIV

Background and Objectives: Low social acceptance, accompanied by high levels of social stigma, gives rise to rejection by community members towards people living with HIV. Health literacy education to increase community awareness of people living with HIV is essential. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of HIV health literacy education on the social acceptance of people with HIV in society.Materials and Methods: Quasy experiment design with pre-test and post-test with a control group was applied in these studies. Sample recruitment used purposive sampling in which ۷۰ community members who were not HIV-infected from Bandung, Indonesia, participated in this study. The intervention provided was HIV health literacy education, which had four phases during four weeks of meetings. The data analysis used a Wilcoxon Signed Rank test and an ANCOVA analysis. Results: The HIV health literacy education strategy significantly influences the social acceptance of people with HIV. Significant differences were found in social acceptance of people with HIV between the intervention and control groups (F=۲۲.۳۰۰; p=۰.۰۰۱). The intervention group improved social acceptance, with the mean score rising by ۵.۸۸ points, from a pre-test score of ۳۸.۴۹ ± ۶.۷۱ to a post-test score of ۴۴.۳۷ ± ۵.۳۳.Conclusion: The HIV health literacy education strategy contributes to the social acceptance of HIV in individuals. After attending HIV health literacy education, individuals have the potential to understand more about HIV disease comprehensively. Thus this strategy strengthens individuals to correct prejudices and grow behavior of acceptance, tolerance, and support for people with HIV.

کلیدواژه ها:

Health Literacy ، health education ، Social Acceptance ، Society ، Stigma