The article selected was an article written by Capasso, DiClemente, and Wingood (2019) that detailed pregnancy coercion as a risk behavior leading to HIV and other sexually transmitted infections especially among young African American women. The article cited pregnancy coercion as a behavior, usually by a male partner, that aims to influence a woman’s independent decision, to become or not to become pregnant, including the use of violence.
The article employed a secondary analysis of data collected through researches that only performed randomized control trials between 2012 and 2014. From the study, it was noted that women who were subjected to pregnancy coercion had a higher risk of getting HIV and other STIs as compared to those who were not. The research therefore concluded that pregnancy coercion was associated with poor sexual health outcomes for the young African American women population.
From this study, there are lessons to learn that can be of great help in enhancing the fight against sexually transmitted infections amongst the African American community. According to the CDC report on HIV prevalence among the African American population, it is noted that the community is at a higher risk, than other population groups, to contract HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
To reduce this trend, one of the lessons learned from the reviewed article is a revision of the social norms and practices that need to be emphasized. Dissuasion of pregnancy coercion is one of the strategies that healthcare providers can employ to reduce the likelihood of spreading STIs amongst the Black community. The research provides a new approach that is rarely employed towards the fight against HIV, which as a nurse, will be helpful when evaluating the possible approaches in impacting community health of the Black population.
The link to the article used is https://doi.org/10.1097/QAI.0000000000002174
References
Capasso, A., DiClemente, R. J., & Wingood, G. M. (2019). Pregnancy Coercion as a Risk Factor for HIV and Other Sexually Transmitted Infections Among Young African American Women. Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999), 82 Suppl 2(2), S155–S161. https://doi.org/10.1097/QAI.0000000000002174
HIV among African Americans. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web Site. https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/group/racialethnic/africanamericans/index.html. Published February 2018.