The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #64944

Amity Balbutin-Burnham, HIV/AIDS Program & School of Public Health, City of Berkeley Public Health & UC Berkeley, 830 University Ave., Berkeley, CA 94710, 5109815384, amb1@ci.berkeley.ca.us, Kurt C. Organista, PhD, University of California at Berkeley, 120 Haviland Hall #7400, Berkeley, CA 94720-7400, and Nicholas J. Alvarado, San Francisco State University, 1401 Waller #3, San Franciso, CA 94132.

Male Latino migrant day laborers are an especially marginalized group of individuals with unique cultural and social needs that can confound HIV/STD prevention efforts. In the United States HIV/STD cases among this group often go undocumented. Male Latino day laborers are at high risk for HIV/STD transmission due mainly to unprotected sex with prostitutes and multiple sex partners, which is mediated by broader social factors such as isolation, poverty, low education level, depression and alcoholism. This paper describes a pilot HIV/STD small group intervention with a cohort of male Latino migrant day laborers. The intervention is intended to create foundation of community and personalized HIV/STD awareness and prevention, attempting to bridge the gap between individual experience and broader social reasons that put male Latino migrant workers at higher risk for HIV/STD infection. The aim of the three-session series was to reduce behaviors that lead to HIV and STD transmission, through participatory discussions, self-examination exercises and personalized prevention planning. Additionally the intervention assessed the feasibility of conducting further research and interventions with male Latino migrant day laborers in an urban setting. The project model and evaluation findings are presented.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of the session, the learner in this session will be able to:
• Discuss at least three social and behavioral determinants that increase Latino migrant day laborers risk for HIV and STD transmission.
• Describe the project’s use of cultural cues in the form of specially made HIV/STD lotteria cards that prompt discussions of social and behavioral determinants among male Latino migrant day laborers.
• Describe the intervention’s evaluation methods and findings.

Keywords: HIV Interventions, Latinos

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.