Fear appeals and treatment side-effects: an effective combination for HIV prevention?

«نامه سردبیری» انگ اجتماعی مرتبط با HIV: معضلی برای پیشگیری از گسترش HIV

HIV/AIDS is a global health concern that spans three decades of its emergence(1). However, it remains a complex, unique issue among experts. While HIV/AIDS is medically recognized as a chronic, fatal disease, there is a social stigma attached to the disease, which targets the dignity of the patients. In addition to the burden of the disease, stress, and fear of death, an HIV-infected patient is...

Fear-based appeals in HIV prevention

You could argue that HIV prevention education in this country exists in the long shadow cast by the ‘Grim Reaper’, which appeared as part of a general HIV awareness campaign for less than three weeks in 1987. Focus groups conducted to explore fear appeals in the context of the current epidemic, consisting (in part) of young gay men who were in their infancy when the Grim Reaper appeared on tele...

Ebola Treatment and Prevention are not the only Battles: Understanding Ebola-related Fear and Stigma

A study of barriers to adherence of antiretroviral treatment in prisoners living with HIV in Tehran, Iran

Background: People with chronic illnesses, such as HIV infection, face many barriers in the way of adherence to the treatment. In this study, the researchers attempted to investigate the barriers and facilitators of adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) among patients with HIV. Methods: Focus group discussion (FGD) was conducted with the primary objectives of investigating the barriers to ...

Fear Appeals in Social Marketing: Strategic and Ethical Reasons for Concern

This article criticizes the predominant use of fear appeals in social marketing. Laboratory studies, which have been the basis for most of the research on fear appeals and which generally suggest that high fear works, have limitations that include forced exposure, short-term measurement, and an overdependence on student samples. Although, unfortunately, field research evaluations of fear appeal...