Global AIDS Status and Community Nursing Interventions: A Review

This essay provides a comprehensive overview of the global AIDS epidemic, emphasizing the importance of community nursing interventions. It begins by highlighting the significant impact of AIDS on global health, citing statistical data on the number of affected individuals and the lack of awareness regarding HIV status. The essay then delves into the causes, transmission, and risk factors associated with AIDS, particularly focusing on unprotected sexual intercourse and intravenous drug use. A systematic review is conducted, employing the PRISMA search strategy to identify relevant literature published between 2013 and 2017, focusing on community-based nursing interventions to minimize the prevalence of AIDS. The essay discusses the social stigma associated with the disease and the need for community nurses to provide education, counseling, and support to affected individuals. It concludes by emphasizing the importance of awareness schemes, education practices, and proactive community nursing to refine societal perceptions and improve the quality of life for those living with HIV/AIDS. The essay highlights the need for effective control strategies and ongoing efforts to combat the spread of the disease.

Running head: HEALTH PROMOTION AND EVALUATION
HEALTH PROMOTION AND EVALUATION
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Introduction:
Maintenance of safe sexual health has been listed as a primary concern in relation to the
global health and wellness status of the world. On an average, statistical evidences have revealed
that more than 36.7 million individuals in the world are affected with AIDS (WHO & UNICEF,
2014). In this context, it has further been stated that 30% of the global population is unaware
about their respective HIV status (WHO & UNICEF, 2014). HIV expanded as the human
immune deficiency virus is a subcategory of the lentivirus that falls under a retrovirus type and
has been reported to cause a fatal autoimmune disorder in human beings (Williams et al., 2013).
The virus is said to degrade the natural in-built immunological mechanism of the body and
affects the ability of the body to sustain itself against agents that lead to the cause of
immunological infections and disorder. AIDS have been attributed to be the one of the most fatal
disorders of all times that deteriorates the defense-mechanism of the body completely
(Yoshikura, 2015). Numerous factors have been connected with the incidence of the disease but
the cause due to indulgence in unprotected sexual intercourse has been listed as the most
important reason worldwide. It has been reported that appropriate community nursing
interventions can help in reducing the prevalence of the disease. This essay would focus on the
global status of AIDS in the population worldwide and at the same time explain the available
interventions in order to minimize the prevalence of the disorder and also with the effective use
of systematic review would devise innovative measures that could be undertaken to modernize
the available intervention strategies.
Discussion:
Researchers have stated that in order to conduct an effective systematic review, it is
extremely important to include a thorough search strategy. An authentic systematic review is

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broadly dependent upon an efficient search strategy that makes use of the best screening filters to
scrutinize and evaluate the available literary sources. The search strategy that was implied in
order to screen relevant literary sources in order to conduct this systematic review was based
upon the PRISMA search strategy. The search strategy proceeded with the consideration of
inclusion and exclusion characteristics and the incorporation of key words such as sexually
transmitted disease, HIV, AIDS, society perception, stigma and community based nursing
evidences. The inclusion criteria comprised of factors such as the year of publication that ranged
between the time-period of 2013 to 2017.
Another important characteristic comprised of all the available research papers that were
published in English language and were about the community based nursing interventions
adapted in order to minimize the prevalence of AIDS. The exclusion criteria comprised of papers
that were published before 2013 and were published in languages other than English. The
exclusion characteristics also excluded the papers that did not comprise of community nursing
interventions to promote sexual hygiene and effectively deal with AIDS. A total of 15 papers
were filtered from the popular databases PubMed and Google Scholar. Filters such as the date of
publication, language and key terms were included in order to derive the most relevant literary
journals. The 15 papers that were segregated included certain papers that dealt with other
autoimmune disorder and the genetic therapies available for the treatment of such disorders.
Research studies have revealed that the set of population that is primarily affected with
this disorder comprise of members belonging to the homosexual community who indulge in
same similar sexual activities (Stangl et al., 2013). Sex workers and teenagers practicing drug
abuse also form a major proportion of the affected population. Prison inmates who are isolated
from basic health facilities and possess no knowledge about the maintenance of personal hygiene

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also form a primary set of population affected with the disease type (Shannon et al., 2015).
Typically it has been observed that the disease is transmitted from an infected person to a healthy
person by means of exchange of contaminated body fluids. The most common transmission of
infected body fluids that occur in between an infected person and a healthy individual is the
contamination transmitted through blood and body fluids or lubricants that exit the body during
indulgence in sexual activities. Teenagers and young individuals who inject drug intravenously
often fail to pay attention to the fact that the needles used in the process must be sterilized and
cleansed thoroughly (Salam et al., 2014). It has been recommended by the national level of
maintenance of safe health and hygiene that the needles should not be used for a second time.
The needles must be disposed off immediately after the first use and disposable needles must be
used for administering drug intravenously. Therefore added care must be undertaken in order to
make sure that the infection through contaminated body fluid is avoided to the maximum. It has
also been reported in studies that a huge social stigma is associated with the disease and the
manner in which normal individuals including health professionals perceive it. It has been
reported that social stigma in the form of discrimination and complete seclusion of the affected
individuals have been associated with patients who are affected with HIV or any other form of
sexually transmitted infections. The rationale behind the stigmatized approach of the society
while dealing with the infected patients is majorly connected to the lack of proper knowledge
about the cause and consequence of the disease (Hethcote & Van Ark, 2013).
Evidences have revealed that in order to bridge the gap and improve the access of health
facilities to the patients it is important that a proactive approach is taken up by the community
nursing professionals (DiCenso et al., 2014). It should be ensured that the professionals
employed at the community level are trained in terms of cultural competency and possess an in

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depth understanding about the disease and the manner in which it is perceived by the society.
Adequate measures such as dispensing correct information and knowledge about the cause of
disease and the strategies that could be taken in order to avoid the drastic effect of the disease
can be imparted to the members of the community by the trained professionals. Imparting
education with the help of informative leaflets and pamphlets and conducting awareness through
informative posters and banners can help in spreading awareness at a large scale (Kerrigan et al.,
2013). Inclusion of personal counseling sessions to help people who are infected and making
them aware about the possible options they have while considering family planning can help in
maintaining a healthy perspective towards the victims and also ensuring that the quality of the
life is enhanced to sustain in the society in a respectful manner (Charannia et al., 2014).
Community nurses must incorporate awareness measures such as organizing health awareness
camps and chronic illness camps and train patients affected with AIDS to lead a normal process
of life style.
Conclusion:
Therefore to conclude the findings of the literatures that have been reviewed, it can be
said that sexually transmitted diseases are gradually gaining popularity on a global level. The
most common victims affected with the disorder belong to the communities that indulge in
unprotected sex and improper maintenance of sexual hygiene. A major proportion of the affected
individuals have been reported to use infected needles that carry the infectious disease from an
infected person to the body of a healthy individual. The alarming rise in the statistical facts and
figures suggests that proper control strategies must be adopted in order to control the prevalence
of the disease. The research papers have also revealed that the stigmatized approach of the
society is also related to deteriorating the disease scenario. Effective awareness schemes and
education practices can help in refining the stigmatized approach of the society in the manner in

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which they perceive HIV positive patients. Efforts must be undertaken by community nursing
professionals to educate the common people about the incidence, cause, prevalence, risk factors,
diagnosis and the consequence of the disease and the manner in which it affects the normal life
style of an individual.

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