SisterAct: A Program Evidencing the Success of Intergenerational Communication as a Strategy for HIV/AIDS Prevention among African American Girls and Women

Issue: HIV/AIDS is increasing among women in DC at alarming rates. Although Black women make up 58% of the female population, they accounted for 90% of all new female HIV cases from 2001-2006 and represented 82% of infections among young women ages 13 to 24.

Description: SisterAct is an innovative, 10-session, intergenerational HIV prevention education intervention that builds on CDC's DEBI, SISTA, by: 1) incorporating non-judgmental, age-appropriate, cross-generational communication skills about the female body and sexual health issues; (2) using visual and spoken art, music, and dance to engage multi-generations of women in socially and culturally appropriate HIV prevention education; and (3) pairing an educational behavioral intervention with free, woman-focused, individual and family counseling and HIV counseling and testing services.

Lessons Learned: SisterAct was implemented with 121 African-American women and girls over a 6-month period. SisterAct (1) increased communication between female family and kinship network members about sexual health; (2) increased knowledge of the risk factors for HIV infection and how to prevent transmission; (3) increased participants' ability to introduce safer sex practices into their lives and their social networks; and (4) built confidence and normalcy into accessing HIV testing and family counseling.

Recommendations:

Greater investment in the research, implementation and evaluation of cross-generational, multi-pronged HIV prevention interventions such as SisterAct, through partnerships with schools, medical providers, and religious and community organizations is necessary to ensure maximization of the beneficial outcomes of this strategy for HIV prevention for African American girls and women.