Concerns and dilemmas of Hispanic AIDS information seekers: Spanish-speaking callers to the CDC National AIDS Hotline

Hispanic communities suffer disproportionately from the impact of human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV). Each year, thousands of Spanish-speaking Hispanics call the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National AIDS Hotline to ask questions about HIV. During 1995 alone, Spanish line staff answered more than 29,000 calls. This article presents a profile of callers and their concerns based on a systematic sample of these calls (N = 6,933) and qualitative data. The authors triangulated quantitative and qualitative results to provide a deeper understanding of the issues and dilemmas discussed with callers. Males and females called in equal numbers, but significant gender differences were observed in both situational and content variables. Gender roles, cultural values, and anxiety strongly affect the way that callers approach information and prevention. Findings suggest that health educators need to carefully examine whether prevention programs will reinforce or challenge traditional gender roles, sexual norms, and cultural values.