Grand Canyon University
South Florida is leading the country in new HIV infections. It is estimated that in 2016, the rates of new infections in Florida was four times higher compared to the national average. In 2019, there are approximately 35.3 new diagnoses among 100,000 people in South Florida (Goodman, 2019). The leading cases of new infections are especially reported among African American makes that have sex with other males. The statistics are alarming and indicative of deeper challenges that are currently facing South Florida and the need for a root cause analysis. There are many challenges that have been associated with the high cases of new HIV infection in South Florida among them being social determinants of health and factors such as challenges in the uptake of PrEP.
The high cases of new infections in South Florida have been linked to the challenges associated with the uptake of PrEP. While PrEP has been proven to stop new infections, there are still numerous challenges related to its uptake which is still lower than what is expected. According to a study by Doblecki-Lewis et al. (2019), the uptake of PrEP is faced with numerous challenges among them being the perceives costs of acquisition with many people reporting that they perceive it as expensive. Potential PrEP candidates further reported that they did not know PrEP providers, they had difficulty communicating about their sexual behaviors with a provider and the fear of provider and community stigmatization. These challenges limit access and the use of PrEP among high-risk individuals and thus contribute to the high cases of new infections.
Social determinants of health are also a significant contributor to the high rates of new HIV infections. These social determinants include income, education, and culture among other factors. Culture plays a significant role as it affects the health practices adopted by individuals. HIV has been stigmatized in many cultures such as the African American culture that has a high incidence rate of HIV infections. The stigmatization affects the willingness of individuals to get screened for the condition and to seek treatment and protective approaches where necessary (Ertel, & Zeglin, 2019). Due to the fear of stigmatization, those infected may also fail to share their status and, therefore, transmit the virus to other people.
Along with culture, the education and income level of the population could be significant factors. African Americans who are reported to have the highest cases of new infections usually have low levels of education which significantly affects their health decision. High education level has been associated with higher health literacy which is important in making health-promoting behaviors such as the use of protection during the sexual intercourse thus reducing the risk of getting new infections. The level of income also affects new infections by impacting access to health care services and other auxiliary services such as transportation to the hospital. Individuals with low-income levels, therefore, have a disproportionate risk of getting infected with HIV as they lack access to some services such as screening due to lack of health insurance.
References
Doblecki-Lewis, S., Butts, S., Botero, V., Klose, K., Cardenas, G., & Feaster, D. (2019). A randomized study of passive versus active PrEP patient navigation for a heterogeneous population at risk for HIV in South Florida. Journal of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (JIAPAC), 18, 2325958219848848.
Ertel, A. C., & Zeglin, R. J. (2019). Social Determinants of Health and HIV/AIDS in Florida. Florida Public Health Review, 16(1), 14.
Goodman, C. (2019). Ending HIV: National coalition brings big money to the crisis in the South. Retrieved 21 February 2020, from https://www.sun-sentinel.com/health/fl-ne-end-hiv-20190816-ew3yrtvcufe5pl3aqullt4s7m4-story.html
A few things, fix your apa formatting. Also, not sure if you followed Rubric on this paper a lot of things were not covered, use level 1 headers to guide your papers along. Also your missing references, the rubric said you needed a certain amount. See my comments in your papers. Melinda