The HIV epidemic can arguably be considered to be a
group of interrelated epidemics, each with its own individual,
social and structural risk factors. Sub-epidemics
within populations have differing dynamics. No one
model can describe all risk factors across these diverse
domains. Conceptualizing epidemiological profiles from
a social ecological theoretical stance therefore necessitates
model specificity and contextual, multi-level analyses
that incorporate social structure, social and
community norms, and biological factors [5]. McLeroy
[10] described: “one of the problems with many
ecological models of social behavior is that they lack
sufficient specificity to guide conceptualization of a specific
problem or to identify appropriate interventions”
(p. 355). To adequately describe and address the complexity
of an epidemic such as HIV, unique and granular
models can be developed for specific populations to
measure relevant risks and risk contexts. After a comprehensive
review of the literature, we found no model
designed to date that encapsulates individual HIV transmission
risks in the context of social and structural
drivers of the epidemic. Auerbach et al. [1] developed a
model to assess social and structural drivers of HIV to
inform intervention development. Poundstone et al. [9]
presented a heuristic framework of the social epidemiology
of HIV that highlights the social and structural determinants
of the epidemic. Other models have examined ecological-level risk factors for HIV such as
structural violence [11,12] and social factors such as
stigma and discrimination [4].
We build on past frameworks by a) examining multilevel
risks and risk contexts for HIV infection and b)
situating individual risks in the network, community,
and public policy contexts as well as the epidemic stage.
We developed the modified social ecological model
(MSEM) to help visualize multi-level domains of HIV
infection risks and guide the development of epidemiologic
studies of HIV. We argue that data on risk factors
and these multiple levels should be collected routinely
as part of any epidemiologic study.