Developing culturally sensitive interventions for Vietnamese health issues: An action research approach

This article describes an action research approach to community development in Vietnam. An advisory committee worked with the researchers and identified the stigma of HIV/AIDS as a health issue of importance to it. The advisory committee consisted of representatives from the community. The selected issue was then explored in greater depth by individually interviewing infected persons, their family members, community members, and leaders. At the same time, focus groups were conducted for additional members of each of the above three cohorts. Through open-ended questions, the participants described the impacts of the stigma on their life, the possible causes of the stigma, and the relevant strategies to reduce these causes. Based on the findings, the advisory committee suggested interventions to reduce the stigma. This project demonstrated an effective way in which nurses can work with communities to help them to identify local solutions to their identified health issues.