1-800-421-AIDS

• Home
• Accessing Services
• 2009 Aids Walk in Cranbrook
• 2009 Aids Walk in Nelson
• Board of Directors
• East Kootenay Services
• Hep C Info
• Links
• Mission
• Needle Exchange
• Prevention and Education
• National Safe Spaces Project
• Research
• Service Area
• Staff
• Support and Advocacy

Rural Research Brings HIV/AIDS into Focus

A new research project, The Rural HIV/AIDS Information Networks Study, is taking place in the West, East and Boundary Regions of the Kootenays. The study is looking at how people living in rural communities with HIV/AIDS or supporting people with HIV/AIDS find the help and information that they need. What is learned will be used to develop better ways to provide useful information and services to people in rural areas. This same project is also being carried out in two other Canadian provinces.

Joanna Lemay, a member of the Nelson community, is conducting the research in the Kootenays. Lemay is working on a research team that includes Dr. Irving Rootman, University of Victoria and Dr. Judith Krajnak, University of British Columbia. The research team is working in partnership with the regional HIV/AIDS service organization, ANKORS, on this project. This research is being funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

A Community Advisory Committee has been meeting to help guide the direction of the project and includes members of Interior Health and ANKORS, as well as other stakeholder groups. As part of the research, interviews will be conducted with individuals including people living with HIV/AIDS, their friends and family members, health care providers, as well as staff and volunteers in community agencies. Interviews will address people's experiences with HIV/AIDS, how they locate and use HIV/AIDS information, networks for HIV/AIDS information exchange, and how information technology affects exchange of HIV/AIDS information.

The second stage of the project will take place in the early summer of 2006. This will include a telephone survey conducted with a representative, random sample drawn from the wider population in the Kootenay region. Questions posed in the survey will assess general knowledge about HIV/AIDS, its causes and treatment, specific knowledge about the presence of HIV/AIDS in the local community, and awareness of sources of help and support available in the community. The goal of the survey is to identify community strengths and assets, as well as barriers to HIV/AIDS information exchange and support. These data will provide a community context for the analysis of interview data from Phase 1. Findings from the research will be available in early 2007.

If you are interested in learning more about this project or would like to participate, please leave a message for Joanna Lemay at 250-354-7073.