The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the utility of participatory approaches for working with ethnic minority women at risk of contracting HIV living in industrialized countries. The literature suggests that these women’s sexual risk behaviors should be analyzed taking into account in the social context that reduces their power to negotiate condom use. In this paper, we argue that because participatory approaches promote the empowerment of vulnerable populations, they offer a promising alternative for HIV prevention in women from ethnic minorities. Hence, interventions targeting these women in high income countries should aim to help them gain control over their relationships, lessen their dependence on men, and enable them to negotiate condom use.

AIDS caused by HIV is an infection disease which was defined firstly in the USA in 1981. Since then, number of AIDS patients has increased continuously. About 36.9 million people are living with HIV around the world. Approximately 15 million people living with HIV were receiving antiretroviral therapy. Early detection is important due to the high risk of transmission that precedes seroconversion and also because it provides an opportunity to improve health outcomes with an early antiretroviral therapy. HIV testing is the key part of diagnosis and prevention efforts. Many tests have been used in the diagnosis of HIV over years and with developing testing methods, accuracy of the laboratory diagnosis of HIV infection has been improved. Detecting p24 antigens, HIV 1-2 antibodies and HIV nucleic acid demonstrated that antibody testing alone might miss a considerable percentage of HIV infections detectable by these tests. This review provides updated recommendations and algorithm for HIV testing that are necessary for diagnosing HIV and offers approaches for accurate assessment of test results.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the utility of participatory approaches for working with ethnic minority women at risk of contracting HIV living in industrialized countries. The literature suggests that these women’s sexual risk behaviors should be analyzed taking into account in the social context that reduces their power to negotiate condom use. In this paper, we argue that because participatory approaches promote the empowerment of vulnerable populations, they offer a promising alternative for HIV prevention in women from ethnic minorities. Hence, interventions targeting these women in high income countries should aim to help them gain control over their relationships, lessen their dependence on men, and enable them to negotiate condom use.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the utility of participatory approaches for working with ethnic minority women at risk of contracting HIV living in industrialized countries. The literature suggests that these women’s sexual risk behaviors should be analyzed taking into account in the social context that reduces their power to negotiate condom use. In this paper, we argue that because participatory approaches promote the empowerment of vulnerable populations, they offer a promising alternative for HIV prevention in women from ethnic minorities. Hence, interventions targeting these women in high income countries should aim to help them gain control over their relationships, lessen their dependence on men, and enable them to negotiate condom use.