Modeling the Exchange of AIDS Prevention and Treatment Strategies in Hong Kong

Abstract

The following research investigates communication among workers for AIDS-related non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Hong Kong. The study seeks to learn to what extent full-time and part-time workers for those NGOs applying to the AIDS Trust Fund (ATF) discuss their prevention or treatment programs with their colleagues, and relates this exchange of information to the strategies that the NGOs use to fund and implement their programs. Ethnographic fieldwork contextualizes network models of communication and division of labor derived from quantitative questionnaires with a multidimensional scaling algorithm. Qualitative and quantitative evidence suggests that competition for funding and a cultural preference for hierarchy in Hong Kong discourage the sharing of ideas. Information exchange occurs primarily through strong ties within and between offices, and the Hong Kong Coalition of AIDS Service Organizations (HKCASO) emerges as the chief mechanism for sharing HIV/AIDS prevention strategies among the NGOs in Hong Kong.