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The Impact of Drug Use on Perceptions of Credibility in Indigenous Outreach Workers

Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management, Baltimore, Maryland

James A. Peterson

Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management, Baltimore, Maryland

Carl A. Latkin

Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management, Baltimore, Maryland

The authors conducted an investigation of perceptions of outreach worker credibility using the social network members (N = 20) of indigenous outreach workers in an HIV/AIDS prevention intervention. The network members included in the study received semistructured interviews following the program’s completion. Outreach workers who were not actively using illicit drugs were more likely to be described as credible than were those who were using drugs. In general, drug use negatively affected perceptions of credibility via damaged trust in the outreach worker’s relationship with his or her network member. Results indicate the complexity of using indigenous drug users as outreach workers, the potential negative perceptions concerning hypocritical behavior, and the need to evaluate social interventions from the standpoint of indirect participants.

Key Words: social influence • outreach workers • credibility • HIV • qualitative • injection drug use

Qualitative Health Research, Vol. 16, No. 8, 1108-1119 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1049732304273934


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