Rompe El Silencio: Creating an intergenerational HIV/AIDS prevention program for Latino families

Recent increases in HIV and AIDS among Latinos in Los Angeles County are staggering. In 2004, Latinos comprised 43% of those living with AIDS compared to 27% in 1992. In addition, Latinos were the only racial/ethnic group in the U.S. to experience a doubling of new HIV infections from 2001 to 2004, from 23% to 51%, and 5% to 11%, for Latino women and men, respectively. The goal of the Rompe el Silencio: Break the Silence project is to develop and pilot a culturally and linguistically relevant HIV/AIDS prevention program among Latinas in East Los Angeles that addresses the multiple contexts of HIV/AIDS risk in their lives. Formative focus groups were conducted with Latinas of diverse ages to: ascertain barriers to risk reduction, better understand the context of risk for Latinas and their families, and determine the types of messages that are contextually and culturally relevant for Latinas and their families. Key findings from the focus groups were used to develop and modify a small group four session intervention, which is being pilot-tested with two samples of Latinas and female family members in East Los Angeles. The intervention incorporates an intergenerational approach to: increase HIV/AIDS communication within the family, address cultural perception of gender-specific control of the context of HIV risk as it occurs within the family, and strengthen potential protective factors (i.e. familismo - the importance of family). Findings from the pilot phase of the intervention will be discussed and contents of the four session HIV/AIDS prevention intervention presented.