Cultural framework Essay

Aside from individual perceptions and resources available to the individual and the friendship, interventions aimed at trim d avouch and mitigating the spread of human immunodeficiency virus infections must take into account the world of friendly validate systems in the community and society where individuals are located. For one, the availability of tide over either from friends, family, or community community influences an individuals determination to adopt or change his or her lifestyle to mirror the objectives of health promotion programs.At the same time, the behaviors and lifestyles of an individuals friends, family, or community itself may be promoting values and norms that contribute to HIV risk factors. The experiences of the HIV Prevention Planning Council of the San Francisco Health plane section (2004) point to the presence of tether negative influences that prevent HIV- affected individuals from seeking counselling and treatment and at the same time facilitate the continued transmission of the disease to the global populace.The first among these factors is the prevalence of drug use (p. 14), which promotes both the acceptability of inwardness abuse as a form of recreation and risky informal behavior. These values are particularly dominant among San Franciscos aerial communities, whose community unsurprisingly have the biggest number of HIV infections. A second factor is San Franciscos liberal farming (p. 13), which means that society may be to a greater extent permissive of and may condone risky intimate behavior that would be deemed unacceptable in other places.The growing acceptability of risky sexual behavior and the decreasing popularity of condom use becomes a motivation for individuals to follow in activities that expose them to possible HIV infection. Moreover, the liberal culture deep down San Franciscos communities may be reinforcing the acceptability of drug use, especially among poorer neighborhoods. Zierler and Kriege r (1997, p. 405) step that poor communities may find substance abuse appealing, or at least find it inoffensive, since it serves both as a source of keep and as a source of recreation and stimulation.On the other hand, the humorous existence of racist and discriminatory attitudes within liberal San Francisco (San Francisco Health Department, 2004, p. 8) may discourage people of color, gay, and male-to-female transgendered individuals from seeking help when they become infected by HIV due to the fear that they will be doubly stigmatized by carrying the disease. Although San Franciscos liberal values and attitudes may have negative personal effects on efforts to curb the HIV epidemic, these same values also leave a positive influence in combatting HIV.For one, San Franciscos progressive intellection and liberal policies (San Francisco Health Department, 2004, p. 13) also enables individuals infected with HIV to easily clear up the support of their friends, families, and communit ies, which could provide enough encouragement for them to adopt healthier lifestyles. San Franciscos openness and diversity also allow individuals to create and live their own lifestyles with minimal pressure to conform to dominant beliefs and values which could help individuals cancel popular but negative influences on lifestyle choices.Likewise, the liberal culture within many communities enables individuals to seek support from peers such as the gay community when ones own family displays reluctance to provide support to the individual affected by HIV. Clearly, HIV intervention programs could utilize the existence of positive sociable support structures in a society in order to successfully combat HIV.At the same time, these programs must be able to address and mitigate the negative influence of an individuals social support network, including the values and attitudes of friends or family members which discourage an individual from changing his or her lifestyle to reduce HIV ri sk and exposure. Works Cited San Francisco Department of Public Health. (2004). 2004 San Francisco HIV prevention plan. Retrieved February 5, 2009, from http//sfhiv. org/documents/Complete2004SanFranciscoHIVPreventionPlan. pdf Zierler, S. & Krieger, (1997). Reframing womens risk social inequalities and HIV infection. Annual Review of Public Health 1840136.