C2P (With Venues): Connect to Protect® Partnerships For Youth Prevention Interventions
Condition: HIV Infections
MeSH terms: HIV Infections
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      During Phase III, Adolescent Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions
      (ATN)/Connect-to-Protect (C2P) site staff, their official community partners established in
      Phase I, and newly invited community sector representatives (i.e., individuals from various
      key parts of the community such as family, spiritual or faith-based institutions, business
      and government) will form a coalition that will work toward achieving C2P objectives. ATN
      040b is the evaluation protocol for ATN 040, Phase III of C2P.
    

Detailed description: 
      Phase III's objective is to initiate and complete a community mobilization intervention aimed
      at reducing HIV incidence and prevalence among youth. The intervention will consist of
      guiding C2P coalitions through a strategic planning process that will result in the
      development and implementation of a local action plan. The action plan will focus on changing
      structural elements of the affected communities that are believed to be associated with youth
      HIV acquisition and transmission. The effectiveness of the intervention will be evaluated by
      tracking venues where the population of interest congregates and trends in risk factors
      associated with HIV acquisition and transmission.

      ATN 040b evaluates annual anonymous data collection of two cohorts per participating ATN/C2P
      site. Both cohorts will represent a site's population of focus, but will be recruited in
      different ways and for different activities.

      Cohort #1 will be referred to the site via Official Community Partners and word of mouth.
      Each year of the study, 10 to 20 individuals will be recruited to complete venue-tracking
      surveys as described in Section 2.1 (N = 40-80 per site over four years). The results will
      either confirm that the population of focus can still be reached at previously identified
      congregation venues or reveal new ones that should be considered for further research
      activities. Each year, based on data from Cohort #1, ATN/C2P site staff will go to two to
      three of the confirmed and/or new congregation venues to recruit 20 to 30 participants per
      venue for Cohort #2. These participants will complete the HIV-related risk survey, with the
      addition of the HIV-Ab assay in the final year only (N = 160-360 per site over four years).
      Data will be used to evaluate the intervention within and across ATN/C2P sites.
    

Intervention name(s): Community Mobilization
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): ATN 040b is the evaluation sub-study for ATN 040, Phase III of C2P. Phase III is a community mobilization intervention aimed at reducing HIV rates among youth via community structural change. ATN 040b involves annual anonymous data collection with two cohorts per participating ATN/C2P site. Both cohorts will represent the site's target population, or "population of focus."
Other intervention name(s): No other names
Observational model: Cohort
Time perspective: Cross-Sectional
Sampling method: Non-Probability Sample
Study population: 
        Each site's population of focus was determined during C2P's Phase I (ATN 016a) and is one
        of the following: young women who have sex with men (YWSM), young men who have sex with men
        (YMSM), or young users of drugs. For each population, the age range must fall between 12
        and 24 years, inclusive.
      
Keywords: HIV; AIDS; Adolescent; Community; Structural Changes; HIV Seronegativity