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BPC sociology professor has works published, to be presented

Dr. Lisa Norman, assistant professor of sociology at Brewton-Parker College, had an article published in March and will be presenting a paper at a conference in the Caribbean later in April.

Norman co-authored "Prevalence and Correlates of HIV Testing: An Analysis of University Students in Jamaica" with Dr. Yitades Gebre of the Ministry of Health of Kingston, Jamaica. Their work was published in the Medscape General Medicine journal in March and is available online through the WebMD Medscape Health Network.

"Our objective was to examine levels of HIV testing practices among a large sample of university students and the relationship among HIV testing, socio-demographic variables and HIV-related behaviors," Norman said.

In their conclusion, Norman and Gebre stated: "Effective messages and programs need to be developed and implemented in Jamaica to promote HIV testing and help persons to adequately assess their level of risk respect to contracting HIV."

Norman will be making an oral presentation at the Caribbean Health Research Council Annual Meeting, which is April 21-23 on the island of Tobago.

Norman is the correspondence author of "Stigmatizing Attitudes of University Students toward Persons Living with HIV/AIDS in Jamaica" with Dr. Robert Carr of Jamaica AIDS Support and Dr. Chukwudum Uche from the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica.

Norman said the team's objective was "to examine attitudes of university students in Jamaica toward persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) including sympathy, willingness to care for HIV-infected family members and avoidance of PLWHA."

In their conclusion, Norman, Carr and Uche determined that "levels of stigmatizing attitudes are high in Jamaica and warrant the attention of both individual and societal-level interventions.

Norman is a former faculty member at the University of the West Indies. Prior to beginning at Brewton-Parker in August 2004, she served on the faculty at the University of Kentucky, and did research there and with the Centers for Disease Control.

-BPC-