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Nabila El-Bassel, DSW, Nathilee A. Caldeira, PhD, Lesia M. Ruglass, PhD and Louisa Gilbert, PhD

Nabila El-Bassel, Nathilee A. Caldeira, Lesia M. Ruglass, and Louisa Gilbert are with the Social Intervention Group, Columbia University School of Social Work, New York, NY.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Nabila El-Bassel, DSW, Social Intervention Group, Columbia University School of Social Work, 1255 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025 (e-mail: ne5{at}columbia.edu).

African American women continue to be disproportionately affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, yet there are few effective HIV prevention interventions that are exclusively tailored to their lives and that address their risk factors.

Using an ecological framework, we offer a comprehensive overview of the risk factors that are driving the HIV/AIDS epidemic among African American women and explicate the consequences of ignoring these factors in HIV prevention strategies.

We also recommend ways to improve HIV prevention programs by taking into consideration the unique life experiences of adult African American women.