AIDS Prevention Outreach among Injection Drug Users: Agency Problems and New Approaches

Abstract

Drawing on original field research and agency theory, we examine the operations and internal workings of community-based outreach projects to combat AIDS among out-of-treatment injection drug users (IDUs). We show that even though these projects suffered from a host of organizational problems, the response from ID Us was positive and vigorous. Based on these findings and recent developments in the theoretic understanding of collective action, we describe new approaches to AIDS prevention that build on traditional outreach prevention efforts but rely more heavily on an active collaboration between IDUs and service providers. These approaches fulfill the call by many AIDS researchers for the development of future prevention projects that capitalize on the unexpected responsiveness IDUs exhibited to traditional outreach efforts. Finally, we consider other public health areas in which such interventions might be effectively applied.