|
Below is a list of ASRU's current research initiatives:
Research Projects 2009
| Antiretroviral Treatment |
Adolescents on ARVs (Rachel Li);
labour-market participation of people on ARVs (Celeste Coetzee);
leadership and ARVs (Nicoli Nattrass, Peter Schwardmann, Eduard Grebe);
AIDS activism and ARVs (Eduard Grebe); ARVs and disability (Nicoli
Nattrass, Brendan Maughan-Brown, Atheendar Venkataramani, Marina de
Paoli and Arne Backer Grønningsæter). |
| HIV Stigma |
Qualitative and quantitative research
into the determinants of stigmatizing attitudes, and the experience of
stigma amongst the stigmatised – including disclosure (Brendan
Maughan-Brown, Hanne Haricharan, Busisiwe Magazi, Colin Almeleh,
Elizabeth Mills). |
| Modelling the AIDS Epidemic |
Modelling the Southern African AIDS
epidemic and exploring the determinants of HIV infection including male
circumcision (Heather Keeletsang Warren, Michael Parasel, Fidelis Hove,
Tafara Ngwara) |
| Circumcision in Hyper- Epidemic
Countries |
Policy on and demand for male
circumcision in Swaziland (Lindiwe Zwane, Amer Mikail Dastgir); male
circumcision in South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Malawi
(Michael Parusel, Fidelis Hove, Feri Gwata, Letsema Mbayi, Boipuso
Modise, Harriet Deacon) |
| HIV, sexual behaviour and gender |
The challenges posed by motherhood for
HIV-positive women (Rene Brandt, Dianna Kane); reproductive
decision-making (Vezi Ndlovu); concurrent sexual partnerships (Timothy
Mah); sex and stigma (Elizabeth Mills); gender dimensions of HIV and
treatment (Dianna Kane, Nicoli Nattrass); macroeconomic determinants of
risky sexual behaviour (Peter Schwardmann) |
| Health Citizenship |
AIDS governance and activism (Eduard
Grebe, Nicoli Nattrass, Alizanne Collier); new challenges in the era of
ARV provision and its impact on gender and health citizenship among
HIV-positive activists (Elizabeth Mills) |
| Traditional medicine in the era of AIDS
|
Qualitative research on the demand for
traditional healing and on fostering better understanding of the use of
biomedical and alternative healing strategies (Jo Wreford and Sumaya
Mall). This research also explores collaboration between biomedicine and
traditional healing (Jo Wreford). |
| Public Health Systems and AIDS
|
AIDS and health systems in Western Cape
agriculture (Penny Morrell); attitudes of health care practitioners
(Sumaya Mall); social dynamics of health across three clinics in
Khayelitsha (Busisiwe Magazi and Elizabeth Mills) |
Research and Outreach Prior to 2009
|
RESEARCH PROJECTS: 2007
|
|
Traditional medicine in the era of AIDS |
Qualitative research on the demand for traditional healing and on
fostering better understanding of the use of biomedical and alternative
healing strategies (Elizabeth Mills, Jo Wreford and Sumaya Mall). This
research also explores collaboration between biomedicine and traditional
healing (Jo Wreford). |
|
Uptake of HAART |
Psycho-social and political factors affecting the uptake of HAART
(Elizabeth Mills); HAART and the uptake of voluntary counselling and
testing (Hannah Lane); gender and the uptake of HAART (Nicoli Nattrass);
adolescents and HAART (Rachel Li). |
|
HIV,
women and parenting |
The
challenges posed by motherhood for HIV-positive women (Rene Brandt,
Dianna Kane), reproductive decision-making (Vezi Ndlovu), and gender
dimensions of HIV (Dianna Kane, Nicoli Nattrass, Elizabeth Mills). |
|
HIV
stigma |
Qualitative and quantitative research into the determinants of
stigmatizing attitudes, and the experience of stigma amongst the
stigmatised (Brendan Maughan-Brown, Colin Almeleh). |
|
Sexual behaviour |
The
collection and analysis of qualitative data on sexual behaviour (Colin
Almeleh, Lauren Kahn). |
|
Impact of HAART |
The
impact of HAART on employment and labour-market participation (Celeste
Coetzee, Ali Tasiran). |
|
The
challenges of rolling out HAART |
Critical analysis of South African AIDS policy (Nicoli Nattrass, Kerry
Mauchline, Ben Potter) and the perverse incentives relating to
disability grants in the context of the provision of HAART (Nicoli
Nattrass, Celeste Coetzee, Brendan Maughan-Brown, Atheendar
Venkataramani, Marina de Paoli and Arne Backer Grønningsæter).
|
|
Modelling the AIDS epidemic |
Socio-economic dimensions of AIDS deaths in KwaZulu-Natal (Alex
Sienaert) and a critical evaluation of the Spectrum and ASSA demographic
models (Nicoli Nattrass). |
|
Creative forms of AIDS education |
Evaluation of participatory and visual approaches to transmitting
AIDS-related information about the human body, using body map drawings
and the Visual Body Map educational tool (Annabelle Wienand) and the
role of local musicians in promoting HIV prevention in Zimbabwe (Tinashe
Chidanyika). |
|
Disclosure |
The
biopsycho-social determinants of disclosure of HIV status to others
(Colin Almeleh). |
|
Public Health Systems and AIDS |
Profile
of the crisis in the public health sector in Khayelitsha – a
collaborative project with TAC (Ted Powers and Loredana Monte); access
of the poor to health care in Khayelitsha and Nyanga (Elizabeth Mills,
Marina de Paoli and Arne Backer Grønningsæter); attitudes of health care
practitioners (Sumaya Mall, Elizabeth Mills). |
|
AIDS
activism |
Exploring national and international networks with regard to AIDS
activism (Eduard Grebe, Alizanne Collier). |
|
National Leadership on AIDS |
Comparative international analysis and detailed national case of AIDS
policy in middle-income countries (Nicoli Nattrass, Kerry Mauchline, Ben
Potter, Peter Schwardmann). |
|
AIDS
denial |
AIDS
denial and the media (Idriss Kallon, Nathan Geffen), AIDS policy (Nicoli
Nattrass) and adherence to HAART (Elizabeth Mills). |
|
OUTREACH |
|
Mapping Our Lives |
An
educational workshop to promote treatment literacy and adherence
entailing the production of life sized ‘body maps’, journey maps and
memory books. ASRU provided these on request (Nondumiso Hlwele and
Annabelle Wienand). In the future, ASRU will only provide the materials
(as there are now sufficiently skilled people in the community to
conduct these workshops). |
|
The
Visual Body Map |
An
anatomically correct, yet simple visual aid for teaching human biology,
with accompanying manual. Designed for use in clinics, HIV-positive
support groups and schools (Colin Almeleh, Annabelle Wienand). We
provide these materials on the web and on request. |
|
Treatment advocacy through art |
A
collaborative project with David Krut Publishing to raise AIDS awareness
and support for HAART by distributing high-quality prints of body maps
(the proceeds of which are divided equally between those who painted
them, and the AIDS outreach program). We also facilitated an exhibition
of body maps at Cambridge’s museum of Archeology and Anthropology
(Annabelle Wienand). |
|
Fostering collaborations between biomedicine and traditional healers |
Jo Wreford has been working with HOPE Cape Town (HIV Outreach Program
and Education) to train Traditional Health Practitioners (THPs) in
western medical understandings of HIV/AIDS and its treatment, and
Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT). The project aims to improve
relationships between THPs and medical personnel; to encourage
cross-referrals; to prevent possible interactions between THP remedies
and ARVs and to encourage more men to test for HIV. Outreach activities
also include giving lectures to medical students (Jo Wreford). |
Surveys, Collaborators and Funders
ASRU supports innovative inter-disciplinary quantitative and qualitative
research into the social and economic impact of AIDS in South Africa. ASRU
runs two panel studies in Khayelitsha: one in the general population (601
respondents); the other amongst a cohort of people on long-term
antiretroviral (ARV) therapy (242 respondents). This helps us understand
better the social and economic context of people on ARVs, as well as the
impact of treatment over time on incomes, economic participation, attitudes
and the use of alternative medicine. These surveys, together with related
qualitative and ethnographic research, also explore health-seeking behaviour
and how people (especially those on ARVs) negotiate their way between
‘Western’ and ‘traditional’ medicine. Data from these surveys has been used
for graduate research on disclosure, labour-market changes, household income
(including the disability grant) and social attitudes. For more detail on
these and other ASRU projects in 2007, see the accompanying table.
ASRU works with community-level organisations (most notably the Treatment
Action Campaign) and clinics to provide educational materials about AIDS and
ARV treatment. We have collaborative projects with Yale University, the
University of Gothenborg; the Health Economics and AIDS Research Division
(HEARD) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the Institute for Social Studies
(the Hague) and the Institute for Applied International Studies (Fafo,
Norway). ASRU was funded in 2007 by the Ford Foundation, SANPAD, HEARD, Fafo,
Yale University, the South African National Research Foundation, UNAIDS and
Atlantic Philanthropies.
|
