Structural interventions for HIV prevention: Optimizing strategies for reducing new infections and improving care

Parallel to the evolution of biomedical approaches to addressing the AIDS pandemic, social science approaches to the prevention of HIV acquisition and transmission have evolved. This evolution is characterized by an increasing emphasis on the use of structural-level intervention methods. By definition, structural-level methods function at the outer-most “layers” of influence in a socio-ecological framework. This volume begins by demonstrating the diversity of HIV epidemics in various nations, thus suggesting that singularly focused prevention approaches are unlikely to succeed. The volume then describes the evolution of social science approaches into the current paradigm of structural-level approaches. Subsequently, the chapters provide in-depth case studies that describe and demonstrate how various forms of structural-level programs may become paramount in the global vision of ending AIDS. Collectively, based on the changes made to social conditions, these various approaches provide far more benefit to humankind than a strictly biomedical approach. The volume further provides useful guidance regarding community mobilization, the evaluation of structural-level intervention approaches to ending AIDS, and the evolving field of theory relative to structural-level interventions targeting HIV/AIDS.