Use and confidence in use of DEBIs by minority-based CBOs

Background: In 1999, CDC published the Compendium of HIV Prevention Interventions with Evidence of Effectiveness, marking the beginning of the Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Interventions (DEBI) project. Since then, sixteen theory-based interventions have been packaged for dissemination and use by HIV prevention programs in community-based organizations (CBOs) and health departments among others.

Methods: Scholars in the Institute for HIV Prevention Leadership, who represent minority-based CBOs, were surveyed to determine their use of the DEBIs in their HIV prevention programs. Scholars were also asked about their confidence in their ability to implement the DEBIs. Scholars were surveyed at the start and end of the Institute year, January and September, respectively. Using SPSS 15.0 for Windows, a paired-sample t test was used to examine the change in scholars' confidence in using DEBIs over the course of the Institute year. Descriptive statistics were used to identify DEBIs most frequently implemented by scholars' CBOs.

Results: Seventy-six (76) scholars completed the Institute 2006-2007, representing 74 community-based organizations. The DEBIs most commonly implemented by scholars' organizations were SISTA, Healthy Relationships, and Popular Opinion Leader (POL). Scholars also showed a significant increase in their confidence in using evidence-based interventions, moving from “somewhat confident” to more than “mostly confident.”

Conclusions: As the rates of HIV/AIDS continue to rise in minority communities, it is important to know which DEBIs are being used by organizations that serve these at-risk populations. In addition, understanding program managers' confidence in implementing DEBIs can be useful in ensuring that these interventions are implemented appropriately.