Recorded presentation

Marjorie F. Goldstein, PhD¹, Elizabeth A. Eckhardt, CSW², and Patrice Joyner, MSW². (1) National Development and Research Institutes, Inc, 71 West 23 Street, 8 Floor, New York, NY 10010, 212-845-4469, goldstein@ndri.org, (2) Deaf Research Projects, National Development & Research Institutes, Inc., 71 West 23rd Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10010

Background: Persons who are Deaf may have less accurate knowledge about HIV and AIDS risk, transmission and prevention than do hearing persons. Objective: To investigate this hypothesis, a self-administered anonymous survey was developed in two American Sign Language (ASL) versions for use on laptop computer. One version is in regular ASL (R-ASL); the second is in 'highly contexualized' ASL (HC-ASL). Method: The instrument was created through: selection of items from national surveys; translation of items into ASL using translation team, focus groups, expert review and back translation; authoring the final translations onto laptop computer. The survey is being conducted in venues with a diverse cross section of the Deaf population (ages 18 and over). Locations include: Deaf fairs and 'expos', Deaf adult education programs, Deaf conferences and meetings. Results: Mean age for the first 220 participants was 40; 59% were female. Among subjects using R-ASL 51% correctly identified 'HIV positive' as meaning that a person has HIV, while among those using HC-ASL, only 10% did so. Among those using R-ASL, 15% and, of those using HC_ASL, 20%, thought that mosquitoes could transmit HIV. When asked whether Deaf people could get HIV, 9% of R-ASL and 29% of HC/-ASL participants said 'no'. Conclusion: From this preliminary data, it appears that many Deaf persons in our sample are misinformed about HIV. This is clearly a population in need of culturally and linguistically appropriate HIV prevention education.

Learning Objectives: Learning Objectives At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to

• identify problems with administering written HIV surveys to Deaf persons who use American Sign Language as their major mode of communication.
• describe some of the potential HIV information needs of Deaf individuals.
• apply principles of HIV knowledge needs assessment to a population with low English literacy.

Keywords: Deaf, HIV/AIDS

Related Web page: www.ndri.org/deafresearch.html

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation