Making of a Proverbs woman: The acceptability of a faith-based approach to HIV prevention for African American women across the lifespan

Issues: Faith-based organizatrions (FBOs) have been paramount in addressing diverse social issues that plague African Americans. However, HIV infection is often overlooked. In the absence of a cure, risk reduction interventions continue to be essential for controlling the HIV pandemic.

Description: Applying the ADAPT-ITT Model, university researchers partnered with a Church Advisory Board (CAB) and; Assessed women's HIV risk via focus groups and interviews, Decided to use the SISTA HIV Intervention, Administered theatre test, consulted Topic experts, and Integrated feedback from all sources to create two final HIV curricula, P4 for Women (ages 18-34) and Ladies First (ages 35-60), Trained facilitators, and Tested the efficacy of the adapted interventions.

Over 150 heterosexual, African American women completed the adapted faith-based interventions. Retention/attendance rates and participant feedback assessed acceptability of the intervention. The CAB also provided qualitative data.

Lessons Learned: A Church Advisory Board was established to provide process evaluation regarding intervention adaptation, implementation and acceptance. This was a vital component of the adaptation.

Multiple procedures were used to recruit and maintain regular contact with the participants. This process was slightly different for the younger versus the older women, however this did not affect the overall attendance. Both groups maintained retention rates above 92%. Recommendations: A guideline for the structured process of adapting interventions must be disseminated not only in medical settings but also social settings such as, FBOs. Applying ADAPT-ITT to modify interventions can enhance fidelity, efficacy, cultural relevance and ultimately acceptability to the adapted intervention.