187533 Creation of the www.SehatWorldwide.org website for sharing resources and tools for peer-led HIV/AIDS prevention programs in Indian Prisons: A model for transcending borders to ensure women's right to health information

Tuesday, October 28, 2008: 5:30 PM

Amrita Bahl, MA , Department of Health & Behavior Studies, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY
Barbara Wallace, PhD , Department of Health &Behavior Studies, Teachers College Columbia. University, New York, New York, NY
In India, the land of Kama Sutra, talking about sex is taboo. One of the factors fueling the HIV/AIDS epidemic in India is this lack of communication, along with stigma associated with HIV and incarceration--creating a considerable challenge for prevention efforts. Even though there were various programs in India to educate the at-risk population, including commercial sex workers and injection drug users, there was no program targeting incarcerated women, some of whom may be in jail for commercial sex related offenses. Thus, I started the SEHAT (meaning ‘health' in Hindi) program in a women's prison in India. SEHAT offered a comprehensive curriculum that covered everything from Tuberculosis (endemic in India) to nutrition, first-aid, and, finally, HIV/AIDS prevention. This program was highly successful. To support a national scale-up and to provide tools for Master Trainers all over India (and worldwide), this paper describes the process of creating and implementing www.SehatWorlwide.org; this virtual space will include training modules, games, videos, etc….. The goal is to disseminate materials that facilitate learning so Master Trainers can avoid "reinventing the wheel." Using, www.SehatWorldwide.org, Master Trainers can select materials so as to customize culturally-appropriate information to be delivered in different national languages across India, as well as globally. This paper also provides an analysis of qualitative data covering the first cohort of Master Trainers and their experiences with and reactions to having access to this new tool. In sum, the paper conveys the value in using internet technology to transcend national and international borders.

Learning Objectives:
By the end of this session participants will be able to identify: 1) the kind of tools that can be made available to Master Trainers via a website, whether curriculum training modules, games, videos, artwork, songs, poems, etc…; 2) the manner in which a website can be developed to support Master Trainers customizing culturally-appropriate information for delivery in a particular national language, to meet the needs of women in prisons across India, or in other international settings; and, 3) the manner in which borders may be transcended via the internet so as to impart HIV/AIDS prevention information to Indian women (and women worldwide), thereby ensuring their right to health, while also fostering public health and overcoming the distinct barrier of stigma characterizing the Indian community.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Prison

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have completed a Masters degree in Health Education and in Psychology and have contributed articles to different books. I am currently pursuing a Doctorate degree in Health Education.
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.