Reducing HIV in Michigan African American Young Adult Women

African American (AA) women are at disproportionate risk for contracting HIV, which has reached epidemic proportions, especially in women of color. Reducing the risk of exposure to HIV in AA women is a priority for health care providers. Despite the many studies conducted on HIV in the AA community, factors that influence sexual risk taking, such as non-condom use by AA women, have yet to be understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate how AA women define HIV risky behavior. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from a convenience sample of AA women (N = 33) from three metropolitan regions within Michigan. The results offer important insight into how AA women define HIV risky behavior as well as highlight behaviors that are amenable to intervention. (C) 2012 Association of Nurses in AIDS Care