First Nations Youth Resilience to HIV/AIDS: Baseline 1998
HIV/AIDS has been little addressed with a First Nations research paradigm. This pilot study sought the fullest possible participation from each of the communities while obtaining actionable data based on First Nations knowledge and values. A pilot baseline survey on risk behaviours and knowledge of HIV/AIDS amongst Aboriginal youth was designed, one that can be applied at the national level.
Four independent community-based designs led by key opinion makers, health service workers and youth in Montreal, Winnipeg, Mistissini and Waswanipi produced highly comparable questionnaires for youth aged 14 to 19 years. Focus groups with youth and service workers generated feedback on the results and ways forward in dealing with the issue. The pilot survey covered 289 youth, three quarters of them school-going. Most had received HIV/AIDS information "at school." Two-thirds reported being sexually active and seven out of ten had unprotected sex. More than half thought contraceptives like the pill and spermicide jelly could protect them from getting HIV/AIDS. More than 50% felt they had "some chance" of getting HIV/AIDS; 18% stated they probably would get it. Only two in every three knew where to get tested, and one in four youth in rural areas did not want to know if a partner is HIV-positive. A dramatic urban-rural gradient exists in knowledge levels. A priority of future efforts is to help more remote areas "catch up" with basic information on HIV/AIDS.
This pilot demonstrates that First Nations communities can design and run their own research on high priority and difficult issues, in a way that is reproducible across Canada.
A summary of this cycle is available from the Library.
