Ong family and network members. Likewise, organizations may exist at different structural levels. A large multi-national organization may GGTI298 manufacturer contain or have links to hundreds of smaller organizations, which in turn contain or have smaller organizations such as departments, divisions, andAIDS Behav. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 December 1.Latkin et al.Pageoffices. Organizations can be viewed as a network of individuals with formal and informal rules that are endowed with resources and technologies.NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptIn the proposed model, it is not anticipated that all six structural factors must be intervention targets or need to be assessed in detail. Rather, investigators should determine which of the six factors are most relevant for a specific problem, program, behavior, or population. Similarly, we do not expect that interventionists focus on the highest possible level of intervention. The level of the intervention is a function of the research question, available resources, appropriate methods, and planned outcomes of the intervention. Description of Structural Dimensions Material resources and their allocations may be economic, social, cultural, and infrastructural. The amount of resources available and how these resources are distributed are both critical. Individuals within formal and informal organizations with greater access to resources tend to have greater power to influence others. Among networks of injection drug users, for example, those who contribute more resources to purchase drugs decide who will inject first. On the macro level, governmental entities differ on their resources, as well as on resource distribution and methods of allocation. At the national level, allocation of HIV prevention and treatment resources in low resource countries may have unanticipated consequences including diminishing health resources for non-HIV medical conditions. Resource allocations for the scientific discovery are usually determined by governmental organizations and the private sector, whereas a wider set of actors and organizations are involved in the distribution and adaptation of new technologies. Science and technology, for our purposes, includes scientific knowledge and technological innovations related to HIV prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. These include vaccines, HIV testing, condoms, and evidence-based behavior change interventions. Some technologies require considerable infrastructure, such as the development of vaccines or the Tariquidar site acquisition of laboratory equipment necessary for diagnosing recent seroconversion; other technologies such as condoms and syringes require less infrastructure. Efforts have focused on methods of distributing existing low-tech HIV prevention equipment. Pharmacological methods of treatment are an ongoing area of research that involves high levels of scientific sophistication; however, low-tech methods of producing illicit drugs, such as methamphetamine, are also actively pursued at the meso and micro levels. Informal social influence and control involve non-institutionally sanctioned social influence. Often informal social control is manifested through normative influence of the micro social networks of referent groups. It is likely that the most immediate micro-level referent group has the strongest influence on HIV-related behavior; however, higher structural levels can also impede or facilitate the detection and prevention of HIV.Ong family and network members. Likewise, organizations may exist at different structural levels. A large multi-national organization may contain or have links to hundreds of smaller organizations, which in turn contain or have smaller organizations such as departments, divisions, andAIDS Behav. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 December 1.Latkin et al.Pageoffices. Organizations can be viewed as a network of individuals with formal and informal rules that are endowed with resources and technologies.NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author Manuscript NIH-PA Author ManuscriptIn the proposed model, it is not anticipated that all six structural factors must be intervention targets or need to be assessed in detail. Rather, investigators should determine which of the six factors are most relevant for a specific problem, program, behavior, or population. Similarly, we do not expect that interventionists focus on the highest possible level of intervention. The level of the intervention is a function of the research question, available resources, appropriate methods, and planned outcomes of the intervention. Description of Structural Dimensions Material resources and their allocations may be economic, social, cultural, and infrastructural. The amount of resources available and how these resources are distributed are both critical. Individuals within formal and informal organizations with greater access to resources tend to have greater power to influence others. Among networks of injection drug users, for example, those who contribute more resources to purchase drugs decide who will inject first. On the macro level, governmental entities differ on their resources, as well as on resource distribution and methods of allocation. At the national level, allocation of HIV prevention and treatment resources in low resource countries may have unanticipated consequences including diminishing health resources for non-HIV medical conditions. Resource allocations for the scientific discovery are usually determined by governmental organizations and the private sector, whereas a wider set of actors and organizations are involved in the distribution and adaptation of new technologies. Science and technology, for our purposes, includes scientific knowledge and technological innovations related to HIV prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. These include vaccines, HIV testing, condoms, and evidence-based behavior change interventions. Some technologies require considerable infrastructure, such as the development of vaccines or the acquisition of laboratory equipment necessary for diagnosing recent seroconversion; other technologies such as condoms and syringes require less infrastructure. Efforts have focused on methods of distributing existing low-tech HIV prevention equipment. Pharmacological methods of treatment are an ongoing area of research that involves high levels of scientific sophistication; however, low-tech methods of producing illicit drugs, such as methamphetamine, are also actively pursued at the meso and micro levels. Informal social influence and control involve non-institutionally sanctioned social influence. Often informal social control is manifested through normative influence of the micro social networks of referent groups. It is likely that the most immediate micro-level referent group has the strongest influence on HIV-related behavior; however, higher structural levels can also impede or facilitate the detection and prevention of HIV.
