Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #118126

Averette Mhoon Parker, MD, Access to Racial and Cultural Health (ARCH) Institute, Inc., P. O. Box 9872, Washington, DC 20016, 202-362-4550, ARCHInstitute@aol.com, Warren A. Rhodes, PhD, Department of Mental Health, Prevention Research Center, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 North Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205, and Ronald Peters, MA, PhD, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, 7000 Fannin, Suite 2618, Houston, TX 77030.

CAYA Substance Abuse Prevention and HIV Prevention Media Initiative is a SAMHSA/CSAP funded effort targeting preventive interventions to the youth of St. Croix, USVI. CAYA Media Project integrates two SAMHSA model prevention curricula (Focus on Kids and Project Alert) into a single integrated curriculum, utilizing characteristically Crucian cultural elements to enhance effectiveness of the prevention messages and to enhance participant knowledge and appreciation of Crucian history and culture. Access to Racial and Cultural Health (ARCH)Institute, Inc., the CSAP grantee, designed this culturally-specific prevention approach to address individual and community prevention needs elucidated during focus groups and interviews with youth, adults, service providers, and other community stakeholders in this sorely underserved area of the United States.

CAYA Media Project initially targets 6th-grade students, involving them in a 9-week program of weekly sessions in which they acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to avoid the substance use and sexual behaviors that put youth at risk for HIV/AIDS. The ‘academic' segments of these weekly sessions incorporate Crucian dialect and customs, and are conducted by practicing health professionals trained in presentation of the integrated curriculum. The cultural arts segment, conducted by respected local artists and historians, instructs participants in traditional crafts, games, and artforms (e.g., storytelling), and allows them to explore St. Croix's history and historical sites.

This presentation describes program content and results of data analyses from the repeated measures (86-item survey presented pre-, immediate post-, and 6-months post- intervention) administered to the first cadre of participants.

Learning Objectives:

• As a result of this learning experience, participants will recognize the potential benefit of a culturally-appropriate substance abuse and HIV preventive intervention that incorporates cultural education as both curriculum content and communication medium.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commertial supporters WITH THE EXCEPTION OF the following: I am CEO/President of ARCH Institute, Inc. (the grantee)whose funded work is described in this presentation..