TTLV: HIV/AIDS prevention and communication in ethnic minority communities in Tuyen Quang province: An anthropological approach

INFORMATION ABOUT THE MASTER'S THESIS

1. Student's full name:Luong Anh Ngoc

2. Gender: Male

3. Date of birth: September 1, 1989

4. Place of birth: Tuyen Quang

5. Decision No. 2797/2012/QD-XHNV-SDH dated December 28, 2012, of the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, recognizing the student.

6. Changes in the training process: None

7. Thesis title:"HIV/AIDS prevention and control communication in ethnic minority communities in Tuyen Quang province: An anthropological approach"

8. Major: Ethnology Code: 60.22.70

9. Scientific supervisor:Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu HuongDepartment of AnthropologyUniversity of Social Sciences and HumanitiesVietnam National University, Hanoi

10. Summary of the thesis results:

This thesis provides an overview of HIV/AIDS prevention and control communication in ethnic minority communities in Tuyen Quang province. The research results indicate that people's knowledge of HIV/AIDS prevention and control is still limited. Analysis of communication from a "source" perspective reveals that communication officers' practices of "labeling" social evil discourse are inappropriate, neglecting post-communication evaluation activities and failing to receive feedback from the people. The overlapping responsibilities of staff, the shifting of responsibilities, and weak inter-sectoral coordination are also noteworthy practices from a "source" perspective. The research results also indicate that language barriers, the diversity of local names for HIV/AIDS, and culturally insensitive communication materials are obstacles for people in accessing information and communication. At the same time, weak infrastructure and a shortage of skilled personnel at the grassroots level pose challenges not only for media service providers but also for the general public.

11. Practical applications:

- Contributing to providing practical insights to support policy planning and intervention programs by relevant government agencies.

- It serves as a valuable resource for scholars, students specializing in the field, community development professionals, and intervention communications practitioners.

12. Future research directions:

This study will delve deeper into the perceptions and attitudes of local people regarding community communication programs in comparison with current discourses on ethnic minorities in Vietnam. This analytical approach will contribute to further illustrating recent academic debates on the agency role of minority communities, as well as inter-ethnic interactions in Vietnam.

13. Published works related to the thesis:

- Luong Anh Ngoc & Phan Hong Giang (2012), "Domestic violence against people with HIV from a sociological and cultural perspective",Proceedings of the International Conference “The Reality and Future of the Family in an Integrated World”, Culture and Information Publishing House, Hanoi, pages 239-248.

- Luong Anh Ngoc (2015), “Subjects and objects in HIV/AIDS prevention communication in ethnic minority communities in Tuyen Quang province viewed from the labeling theory and communication model of Claude Shannon”,Journal of Ethnology, issue 06.2015.

INFORMATION ON MASTER'S THESIS

1. Full name: Ngoc Luong Anh2. Sex: Male

3. Date of birth: September 01, 19894. Place of birth: Tuyenquang province

5. Admission decision number: 2797/2012/QD-XHNV-SDH, Dated: December 28, 2012

6. Changes in academic process: None

7. Official thesis title: “Communication on preventing HIV/AIDS in ethnic areas in Tuyenquang province (Vietnam): An anthropological approach”.

8. Major: Ethnology 9. Code: 60.22.70

10. Supervisors:Nguyen Thi Thu Huong, PhDLecturerFaculty of AnthropologyUniversity of Social Sciences and HumanitiesVietnam National University of Hanoi

11. Summary of the findings of the thesis:

The thesis provides an overview of communication on preventing HIV/AIDS in ethnic areas in Tuyenquang province. The research findings indicate that local people's knowledge about HIV/AIDS is still limited. The analysis of communication from the perspective of “source” points out that the communication staff use “labeling” and discourse social evils in unsuitable ways, ignore assessment after doing the communication nor receive feedback from the local people. The status of concurrently, the shirking of responsibility and the loose inter-agency coordination of communication staff are also current remarkable issues. The findings also indicate that the language, the diversity of the local names of HIV/AIDS and the limited-cultural sensitivity communication materials are the barriers to local people accessing information in the communication. Simultaneously, the weak infrastructure system and the lack of professional human resources at the local level are the challenges for not only communication providers but also receivers (local people).

12. Practical applicability, if any:

The findings from this thesis help administrators to build suitable policies for developing communication on preventing HIV/AIDS in ethnic areas. On the other hand, the findings are scientific references for scholar, student, communication staff.

13. Further research directions, if any:

More in-depth analysis of the conceptions and attitudes of local people about the communication programs in comparison with the current discourses on ethnic areas in Vietnam. This analysis directions will contribute to further illustrate the recent scholarly debate about the “agency” of ethnic areas as well as inter-ethnic interactions in Vietnam.

14. Thesis-related publications:

- Luong Anh Ngoc & Phan Hong Giang (2012), “Domestic violence for persons with HIV from social and cultural approach angel”,The summary of International conference “Reality and future of family in the integrated world”, Hanoi, pp. 239-248.

- Luong Anh Ngoc (2015), “The sender and the receiver in communication on preventing HIV/AIDS in ethnic areas in Tuyenquang province (Vietnam) from labeling theory and communication model of Claude Shannon approaches”,Journal of Anthropology, Vol. 6.2015.