Common Threads: An Integrated HIV Prevention and Vocational Development Intervention for African American Women Living with HIV/AIDS

Current policies and initiatives call for the integration of social determinants of health into HIV/AIDS prevention and care interventions. According to the World Health Organization’s Commission on Social Determinants of Health, the lower a person’s socioeconomic status, the worse the health outcomes. One way to alleviate poverty among African American women with HIV/AIDS is to help foster their vocational development and economic empowerment. The National HIV/AIDS Strategy Implementation Plan specifically directs federal agencies to find ways to integrate people living with HIV/AIDS into broader employment initiatives. The purpose of this manuscript is to examine medical, psychosocial, financial/legal and vocational social determinants of health through the lens of the Client-Focused Considering Work Model (Goldblum and Kohlenberg, 2005). The authors then apply this model to the development of a culturally sensitive, integrated HIV prevention and vocational development intervention: Common Threads.