Transcript Background - Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS

Project ÒRÉ
Investigative Team:
M.Margaret Dolcini, Ph.D., Gary W Harper, Ph.D., MPH,
Cherrie Boyer, Ph.D., Heneliaka Jones, B.S., Cassandra Perkins, Muszetta
Jones Smith, B.S., Rayshone Bow, Stacey Mills, Danetta Cowliah, India
Alexis, B.A., Kristin Burnett
In Cooperation With:
Bayview Hunters Point Library, Bayview Hunters Point YMCA, Bayview
Hunters Point Foundation, Booker T. Washington Community Center,
Hawkins Village, Potrero Hill Neighborhood House
Funded by:
The National Institutes of Health through the
Adolescent Trails Network (PI, Craig Wilson, MD)
• Sexually active African American adolescent
females are at high risk for HIV and other STIs
• Effective interventions must be tailored to meet
the needs of the specific priority population
• The present study builds on prior research by
this group on inner city youths’ social
relationships and sexual health and tests a novel
friendship based intervention developed for this
population
Prior research indicates that:
• Inner city African American youth have close
same gender friendship networks, with shared
norms regarding sex and drug use
• Friends share information about sex and dating
and sometimes influence how romantic and sexual
relationships unfold
• Friendships tend to be stable, thus making
friendships based interventions feasible
• We developed and pilot tested a novel
friendship based intervention with African
American youth aged 14-21 years
• Based on promising pilot data we were
funded to conduct a group randomized
controlled trial of our intervention
Study Design
Neighborhoods
(4 groups) randomized to:
Experimental
Neighborhoods (2)
Pre-Screen index cased for eligibility:
Female, African American, age 14-18,
sexually experienced, and conduct
informed consent
Attention
Neighborhoods (2)
Index Cases identify and recruit 2-5
eligible friends to participate.
Determine friend's eligibility &
conduct informed consent
Give pre-workshop questionnaire to all
participants (Index cases and friends
recruited)
Experimental Condition:
Project ÒRÉ Intervention 35
groups (133 participants)
Post-workshop questionnaire (all
participants from both conditions)
3 month follow-up questionnaire (all
participants from both conditions)
Attention Control Condition:
Health intervention 35 groups
(132 participants)
Intervention Development
• Used data from longitudinal study, focus groups,
qualitative interviews, clinical experience, and other
interventions
• Incorporated input from two consultants and youth in the
community
• Incorporated rite of passage rituals, community-specific
risk data, and videos made with community youth
• Emphasized issues of connectedness among friends and
“friends protecting friends”
• Specific modules focus on theoretically important
dimensions of the AIDS Risk Reduction Model (ARRM)
and are highly interactive
Lessons Learned
• Knowing the community and the dynamics of the
priority population enhances our ability to develop
strong programs
• Novel programs can be developed that build on
prior scientific knowledge and incorporate
community specific information
• A friendship based HIV/STI program was well
accepted by African American young women in
the study communities