GROUP EMPOWERMENT INTERVENTION FOR PUERTO RICAN HIV+ GAY MEN

University Of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras, San Juan PR

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

Most HIV/AIDS prevention research has consisted of efficacy evaluations, i.e. clinical trials conducted at academic/research settings, usually characterized by a great variety of resources, which, in most cases, are not available to AIDS service organizations (ASOs). Effectiveness studies, therefore, are of great importance in the HIV/AIDS arena since, conducted in "real world" conditions (Hargreaves, Shumway, Hu & Cuffel, 1998), they allow for the examination of broader and more diverse outcomes than efficacy studies, which are usually conducted in controlled, academic research settings. Although rigorous and essential, efficacy studies do not provide all the information necessary for treatment and policy divisions. Because they examine a "broader array of outcomes effectiveness studies yield results that decision makers can use in making treatment and policy choices" (Hargreaves et al., p.3). The present study intends to refine adapt and transfer to an ASO a preventive intervention targeting HIV+ Puerto Rican gay men, and then evaluate the effectiveness of that transfer process in increasing participants' (i.e. ASO's clients) safer sex practices and health behaviors. The specific aims are: 1) To refine and adapt a cognitive/behavioral intervention model based on the findings of a previous study, which tested the efficacy of an intervention targeting HIV+ Puerto Rico gay men, and transfer it to an ASO; 2) To identify the contextual barriers and facilitators in an ASO that influence the effective transfer of an intervention; and 3) To assess whether a strategy that provides brief training and extended consultation is more effective than one that provides extended training and spare consultation in transferring and implementing and efficacious intervention to an ASO. In testing the effectiveness of the model, the proposed study will address the following questions: 1) What are the most effective strategies for transfer and implementation of an empowerment intervention model targeting HIV+ gay men? 2. What are the program and setting variables that facilitate and/or impede effective transfer of an intervention to an ASO? 3. Is the combination of brief training and extended consultation more effective than extended training and spare consultation in implementing an efficacious intervention in a community setting? 4. Is an intervention model previously tested in a research scenario effective in increasing the frequency of safer practices and health-related behaviors when adapted to the needs and resources of and implemented in an ASO?