"Speaking the dialect": Understanding public discourse in the aftermath of an HIV vaccine trial shutdown

P.A. Newman, C. Logie, L. James, T. Charles, J. Maxwell, K. Salam and M. Woodford

American Journal of Public Health, 2011, vol. 101, issue 9, 1749-1758

Abstract: Objectives: We investigated how persons from key populations at higher risk of HIV exposure interpreted the process and outcomes of the Step Study HIV-1 vaccine trial, which was terminated early, and implications for willingness to participate in and community support for HIV vaccine research. Methods: We used qualitative methods and a community-based approach in 9 focus groups (n=72) among ethnically and sexually diverse populations and 6 semistructured key informant interviews in Ontario, Canada, in 2007 to 2008. Results: Participants construed social meaning from complex clinical and biomedical phenomena. Social representations and mental models emerged in fears of vaccine-induced infection, conceptualizations of unfair recruitment practices and increased risk behaviors among trial participants, and questioning of informed consent. Narratives of altruism and the common good demonstrated support for future trials. Conclusions: Public discourse on HIV vaccine trials is a productive means of interpreting complex clinical trial processes and outcomes in the context of existing beliefs and experiences regarding HIV vaccines, medical research, and historical disenfranchisement. Strategic engagement with social representations and mental models may promote meaningful community involvement in biomedical HIV prevention research.

Date: 2011
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.2105/AJPH.2011.300208

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2011.300208_4

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2011.300208

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().