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Nontraditional employees: Indigenous outreach workers employed as AIDS educators for street addicts
Author(s) -
Ashery Rebecca Sager
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.585
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1520-6629
pISSN - 0090-4392
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6629(199307)21:3<200::aid-jcop2290210304>3.0.co;2-p
Subject(s) - outreach , indigenous , substance abuse , addiction , drug addict , family medicine , medicine , psychology , medical education , psychiatry , political science , ecology , law , biology
This descriptive study examined issues in the employment of indigenous outreach workers (OWs) hired to deliver AIDS risk‐reduction messages to street addicts who were not in treatment. Twenty‐six projects responded to a mailed questionnaire. These projects were part of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded National AIDS Demonstration Research (NADR) projects. Fifty‐eight percent of the OWs hired were recovering addicts with an average of just over 2 years in recovery. Out of a total of 395 OWs hired, 61% left prior to the conclusion of the 3‐year project. Of those who left, 62% left employment within the first year. The study recognizes that OWs are “nontraditional” employees, and suggestions are given for further study and to increase retention.