Protege tu Familia-Hazte la Prueba (Protect your Family-Get Tested): Results from a culturally relevant community-based HIV prevention intervention

There is a paucity of HIV/AIDS prevention programs that account for Latino culture and a lack of perceived personal HIV risk among Latinos. This project was designed to increase HIV/AIDS knowledge, intention to HIV test, self-efficacy for communication about safer sex behaviors, and safer sex behaviors among Spanish speaking Latinos accessing community-based health services in Long Beach and San Ysidro, California. A quasi-experimental design was used to test the efficacy of an HIV prevention intervention that was developed through community participatory techniques. Community health workers (promotores) delivered a 90-minute informal education session (charla) based on the Community Health Outreach and Information, Motivation, and Behavior for HIV Risk Reduction Models to over 400 participants. A one-month telephone follow-up was conducted to assess behavior changes. Seventy percent of the participants were female, with a mean age of 35 years. The majority was born in Mexico (55%) and Spanish was the preferred language for most (62%). Only 44% indicated they had previously tested for HIV and the most common reason cited for not testing was “I don't need it.” Upon completion of data collection, outcome analyses will be conducted to determine whether there are statistically significant improvements in HIV-related knowledge, intention to HIV test, self-efficacy for communication about safer sex behaviors, and intention to use condoms associated with charla participation. Further, associations between participant characteristics and improvements in follow-up scores will be examined. Participant evaluations of the charla and its effectiveness will also be presented along with policy implications of the study findings.