291838
Women's leadership training institute and HIV prevention training institute (WLTI-HIV/AIDS): Empowering women through leadership to prevent HIV
Methods: 95 women enrolled in the Boston Public Health Commission's substance abuse treatment programs were recruited (N= 49 WLTI-HIV/AIDS; N= 46 control group). Data were obtained via structured interviews at baseline, 3-, and 6-months post-intervention.
Results/Conclusions: Findings indicate that WLTI participants demonstrated increases in HIV knowledge, small increases in HIV-related self-efficacy, decreases in perceived risk for HIV, greater abstinence and less risky sex over time compared to women in the comparison condition. Results from a focus group with WLTI participants suggest that the program taught women about STIs in an accessible way, helped women incorporate conversations about HIV risk into their relationships, and helped them make decisions about risky sexual relationships. While the study was underpowered to detect statistical significance, trends from latent growth modeling indicate that incorporating leadership training into HIV education may be a potential strategy to reduce HIV risk among women with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders.
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Social and behavioral sciences
Learning Objectives:
List three reasons women with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders are at increased risk of HIV.
Describe the rationale for integrating leadership into HIV prevention for women with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders.
Discuss three outcomes in which the intervention group showed improvement over the comparison group.
Keywords: HIV Risk Behavior, Women and HIV/AIDS
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Because I was the project coordinator and participated in all aspects of the project.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.