Training Community Members to Deliver HIV Prevention Programs to Urban Youth
Condition: HIV; HIV Infections
MeSH terms: HIV Infections
Study type: Interventional
Phase: Phase 3

Summary: 
      This study will examine methods for involving local community members in programs to teach
      urban youth about how to prevent transmission of HIV.
    

Detailed description: 
      HIV is a sexually transmitted virus that damages or destroys a body's immune system. When the
      infection progresses to its later stages, AIDS can develop. Several programs have been
      developed for educating adolescents about how to prevent HIV transmission. Preventing
      infection is particularly important because there is not yet a way to cure HIV. This study
      will examine the processes needed to train community members to deliver HIV prevention
      programs to urban youth.

      This study has three steps. In Step 1, an existing group of urban community members who have
      already delivered the Be Proud! Be Responsible! HIV prevention program will be invited to
      serve as mentors for new HIV educators in the community. Participants in this step will
      complete self-administered assessments of their willingness to collaborate with
      university-based researchers, their confidence in skills necessary for collaborative
      projects, and any foreseeable obstacles to participation. The goal of this step is to examine
      the response over time to ongoing HIV leadership.

      In Step 2, parents from the targeted community will be recruited and trained in HIV
      prevention programs. They will be randomly assigned to one of three programs: Becoming a
      Responsible Teen, Be Proud! Be Responsible!, and Reducing the Risk. All three of these
      programs involve group meetings with adolescents to discuss puberty, sexuality,
      communication, self-esteem, HIV/AIDS, and setting and achieving goals and dreams.
      Participants in this phase will undergo the same assessments as those in Step 1.

      In Step 3, the parents trained in Step 2 will be randomly assigned to a middle school or high
      school where they will deliver the program in which they were trained. Randomly selected
      adolescent participants from these schools will be assigned to whichever program is being
      offered at their school. All three prevention programs will include four to six sessions over
      4 to 6 weeks. Adolescent participants will be required to complete interviews and
      questionnaires when they enter the study, after 3 months, and after 15 months. These
      interviews and questionnaires will measure HIV/AIDS knowledge, self-esteem, intention to
      protect health, and engagement in risk-taking behaviors. Parent participants in Step 3 will
      repeat the assessments from Steps 1 and 2 before and after delivering their prevention
      curriculums.
    

Intervention name(s): Be Proud! Be Responsible!; Becoming A Responsible Teen (BART); Reducing the Risk
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): This intervention consists of highly structured modules that involve group discussions, videos, games, brainstorming, experiential exercises, and skill building activities. The program encourages participants to be proud of themselves and their community, to behave responsibly for themselves and their community, and to consider their goals for the future and how risk behaviors may interfere with the attainment of their goals.; This program consists of highly structured modules administered using intervention manuals in community-based settings. Each intervention session involves group discussion, videos, games, presentations, demonstrations, role plays, and practice. Youth learn problem solving, decision-making, communication, condom negotiation and use skills, and behavioral self-management. Youth also meet with HIV infected peers to promote risk recognition and improve their perception of vulnerability.; This program consists of instruction on developing social skills to reduce sexual risk-taking behavior and role plays to practice and model skills. Additional activities-such as teaching decision making and assertive communication skills, offering encouragement to obtain relevant health information from stores and clinics, and asking parents about their views on abstinence and birth control-support the premise that students should avoid unprotected intercourse, either by remaining abstinent or using contraceptives.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double (Participant, Care Provider)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: HIV Prevention; Youth; Adolescent; Community Collaboration; Community Mentorship; Minority; Urban; Sexual Risk Behaviors; HIV seronegativity