Date of Award

January 2016

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Public Health (MPH)

Department

School of Public Health

First Advisor

Kaveh Khoshnood

Second Advisor

Danya Keene

Abstract

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is a region of concern in regards to the global HIV epidemic. In 2015, a call to action was released through the American University of Beirut urging an expansion of research and policy regarding women and HIV in the MENA region. Through individual, semi-structured interviews with sexual healthcare providers and NGO staff, we sought to understand barriers to HIV testing among women in Lebanon. Using purposive and snowball sampling strategies, key informants were recruited from neighborhoods in greater Beirut (N=21; 12 physicians, 9 NGO staff). Data were analyzed utilizing a Grounded Theory inductive framework. Findings identified barriers to HIV testing among women at each level of an adapted social-ecological model (i.e., social-cultural-level barriers, policy-level barriers, interpersonal healthcare provider-level barriers, and intrapersonal-level barriers). Findings can be utilized to inform HIV-related sexual health interventions for women in Lebanon at multiple levels.

Comments

This is an Open Access Thesis.

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