A Small Dose of HIV? HIV Vaccine Mental Models and Risk Communication

Existing knowledge and beliefs related to HIV vaccines provide an important basis for the development of risk communication messages to support future HIV vaccine dissemination. This study explored HIV vaccine mental models among adults from segments of the population disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. Nine focus groups were conducted with participants (N = 99; median age = 33 years; 48 % female; 22 % African American, 44 % Latino, and 28 % white) recruited from needle exchange sites, public clinics, and gay community centers in Los Angeles. Data were analyzed using narrative thematic analysis and Ethnograph qualitative software. Mental models of HIV vaccines included live virus, side effects, complete protection (100 % efficacy, lifetime protection, reduced anxiety about HIV/AIDS), and “high-risk groups. ” HIV vaccine risk communication to counter undue fears of vaccine-induced infection and side effects and to mitigate exag-gerated expectations of a “magic bullet ” may be vital to the effectiveness of first-generation HIV vaccines in controlling the AIDS epidemic. Keywords: HIV/AIDS; HIV vaccines; risk communication; mental models; risk behaviors; qualitative research HIV vaccine development is proceeding at an accelerated pace, with millions of dollars in new investment (Esparza, 2005). Since the first HIV vaccine trial in the United States in 1987, more than 70 trials of more than 35 different candidate vaccines have bee