HIV Risk Behavior and Prevention Considerations Among Military Personnel in Three Caribbean Region Countries: Belize, Barbados, and the Dominican Republic

Abstract

Background: We review research findings and the limitations of recent qualitative and quantitative studies of HIV prevalence and risk behaviors in military populations in three Caribbean countries (Dominican Republic, Belize, and Barbados).

Methods: This research shows how mental health issues, disordered substance use, and structuring aspects of the occupational field produce and reproduce patterns of risk behaviors.

Results: We discuss the use of formative research, the Positive Health, Dignity, and Prevention framework, and the use of implementation science (including research methods that employ alternative methodological assumptions to better elucidate both cultural nuances and unknown components of program impact in different military populations) as a means to tailor individual prevention strategies to military populations.

Conclusion: We conclude that greater adaption and ingenuity in prevention could improve behavioral prevention of HIV among military personnel in the Caribbean region.

Keywords: Caribbean; HIV; behavioral prevention; defense force; formative research; military.