NCJ Number
146289
Journal
Prison Journal Volume: 73 Issue: 3 and 4 Dated: special issue (September/December 1993) Pages: 379-390
Date Published
1993
Length
12 pages
Annotation
AIDS prevention among intravenous drug users (IDU's) is essential, and the Community Outreach Project on AIDS in Southern Arizona (COPASA) demonstrates that the large number of hard-to-reach IDU's entering the jail system make the jail an appropriate environment for HIV/AIDS prevention programs.
Abstract
COPASA represented a consortium of seven agencies in southern Arizona who pooled their areas of expertise to locate and conduct HIV research and education for IDU's. Several outreach methods were employed, including street outreach, outreach to people on drug treatment waiting lists, outreach to hospitals and health clinics, and outreach to people within the criminal justice system. COPASA began to enroll participants in the project in April 1989, and HIV/AIDS education targeted inmates in the Pima County Jail. The project demonstrated that HIV/AIDS educators need to deal with six issues when providing AIDS prevention services in jails: constraints of the jail setting; access to inmates; educational needs of IDU's; type, format, and content of the intervention; HIV/AIDS testing in jails; and effectiveness of HIV/AIDS programs in jails. 13 references and 2 tables