THE EFFECTS OF A PARTICIPATIVE PROGRAM ON IRISH PUPILS ATTITUDES TO HIV AIDS/

The study is concerned with a general humanistic approach to health (l ifeskills) education and its application to the specific issue of HIV/ AIDS in the Republic of Ireland, A programme of five classroom session s, structured to encourage active participation, was administered to a n experimental group of 20 participants (10 male and 10 female). There was an equivalent control group, Attitudes towards 10 AIDS-related pe rson concepts were measured before and after the programme using seman tic differential rating scales, Highly significant differences were fo und between groups in post-programme attitudes to the concepts. There were no gender differences. It is concluded that this participative pr ogramme strongly influences AIDS-related attitudes and, in particular, promotes compassion towards those with HIV/AIDS.