Creation of Educational Spaces as a Means of AIDS Prevention

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present some reflections and formulate considerations on education and HIV prevention, arising from the UNLP program “Creation of Educational Spaces as Modes of Prevention”. The general objective was to implement a health education program that would promote preventive education aimed at improving quality of life in the community.

The specific objectives were: a) to design educational actions capable of generating preventive attitudes in the community; b) to train interdisciplinary teams able to develop educational strategies; c) to use non-conventional media in order to reach the entire community with the information necessary to promote preventive attitudes; and d) to disseminate the program through university extension activities. The implementation of the program involves the differentiation and articulation of the following areas: a) Research; b) Centralization of Information and Dissemination; c) Educational Actions; and d) Educational Technology.

Conclusions: The data from our initial inquiries indicate that preventive actions based solely on information, and even those that reach the level of communication, are insufficient given the complexity of the issue. Therefore, campaigns must be designed and evaluated from a scientific standpoint, that is, by recording all variables, including desires, fears, denials, and the ways in which these influence the persistence of non-preventive behaviors despite high levels of information.

On the basis of these inquiries, we have designed our proposals throughout the ten years of existence of the program. In some instances, we have been able to develop and evaluate them; in others, the question of their validity has remained unresolved.

Difficulties have permanently hindered our work. These difficulties have originated not only in the lack of resources, but above all in behaviors of avoidance, denial, and disqualification, which explains why the work has continued in cycles. Reaffirming some of the conclusions of our research, higher levels of information are not sufficient to produce behavior more adaptive to this problem, not even among education and/or health teams.

Through calls for project competitions from different institutions, such as UNESCO, the University, the National Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, CONICET, or through direct requests, as in the case of the European Community, the continuity of the program has proceeded unevenly from project to project.

Since 1990, when UNESCO supported our program, the University has followed an interesting path in the area of extension. However, current needs require us to advance much further in that direction.