Black Authoritative Knowledge and Health Care Among Black Women With HIV

Black women have higher rates of HIV than do White and Latina women. Additionally, numerous Black women face intersecting issues, such as intimate partner violence, trauma, homelessness, and mental health disorders. Gaps still exist in implementing culturally relevant or tailored interventions for Black women with HIV. Culturally relevant bundled intervention approaches are needed that address social determinants of health, link Black women with HIV to care, engage and retain them in care, and improve outcomes and quality of life. Central to this is building community partnerships, meaningfully involving Black women with lived experiences in decision-making regarding their care and treatment, and implementing intervention strategies. We show how Black authoritative knowledge centers Black women's experiences and needs and promotes confidence to advocate for, empower, and inform others about their lives and health and how it becomes the basis of decision-making. We describe the use of authoritative knowledge in adapting and implementing strategies to uptake bundled evidence-informed interventions funded by the Minority HIV/AIDS Fund and the Health Resources and Services Administration's HIV/AIDS Bureau Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Special Projects of National Significance to help promote, shift, reimagine, and transform equitable HIV care for Black women. (Am J Public Health. 2025;115(S1):S38-S45. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307930).