Funding Source and Project Period: NICHD, 2007-2012

Key HIV Center and Collaborating Personnel:

Principal Investigator: John J. Chin, Ph,D. (New York Academy of Science)
Co-Investigator: Joanne Mantell, Ph.D. (HIV Center).

Project Overview;

(from abstract)

Of the various types of community organizations in Asian immigrant communities, religious organizations are uniquely positioned to promote reduction of HIV stigma and to change social norms that discourage discussion of HIV and related “taboo” topics (such as non-marital sex and homosexuality) both among their formal memberships and in the community at-large. Reducing stigma and changing such social norms are crucial precursors to conducting effective HIV prevention and testing programs and encouraging support of HIV+ community members. Yet, in Asian immigrant communities, religious organizations have been largely uninvolved in or even counter-productive to HIV-related work. Although religious organizations may be the most important of immigrant community institutions, there is little research on how to increase their role in HIV and in health promotion more generally.

To address this research gap, this study aims to: 1. determine how social network structures within religious organizations facilitate or impede organizational change, particularly with regard to involvement in HIV-related activities. 2. identify and describe how leaders’ and members’ religiosity and religious worldview influence religious organizations’ involvement in HIV-related activities. 3. translate findings from the first two aims into programmatic strategies and interventions for overcoming barriers to religious organization involvement in HIV-related activities. To achieve these aims, we propose a mixed methods study using in-depth qualitative interviews, quantitative surveys and social network methodologies to assess religiosity, religious worldview, HIV knowledge and attitudes, innovativeness and social network characteristics of leaders and members in a sample of 21 Chinese immigrant Christian and Buddhist religious organizations in NYC.