141st APHA Annual Meeting

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291838
Women's leadership training institute and HIV prevention training institute (WLTI-HIV/AIDS): Empowering women through leadership to prevent HIV

Monday, November 4, 2013 : 5:30 PM - 5:50 PM

Nicole Charon-Schmitt, MPH , Addictions Prevention, Treatment and Recovery Support Services Bureau, Boston Public Health Commission, Boston, MA
Rita Nieves, RN, MPH, LCSW , Addictions Prevention, Treatment and Recovery Support Services Bureau, Boston Public Health Commission, Boston, MA
Hortensia Amaro, PhD , University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Heather L. McCauley, ScD, ScM , Division of Adolescent Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA
Background: HIV risk behaviors and HIV infection are significant public health problems among women with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders with a history of trauma. However, most HIV prevention interventions have not adequately addressed this population. WLTI-HIV/AIDS is an empowerment-based leadership training program (five sessions, 4.5 hours/session) designed to reduce risky sexual behavior among women with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders. Based in Boston, WLTI aims to build leadership qualities and skills including: self-efficacy/advocacy, problem solving and negotiation to reduce sexual risk behaviors and ultimately HIV/AIDS.

Methods: 95 women enrolled in the Boston Public Health Commission's substance abuse treatment programs were recruited (N= 49 WLTI-HIV/AIDS; N= 46 control group). Data were obtained via structured interviews at baseline, 3-, and 6-months post-intervention.

Results/Conclusions: Findings indicate that WLTI participants demonstrated increases in HIV knowledge, small increases in HIV-related self-efficacy, decreases in perceived risk for HIV, greater abstinence and less risky sex over time compared to women in the comparison condition. Results from a focus group with WLTI participants suggest that the program taught women about STIs in an accessible way, helped women incorporate conversations about HIV risk into their relationships, and helped them make decisions about risky sexual relationships. While the study was underpowered to detect statistical significance, trends from latent growth modeling indicate that incorporating leadership training into HIV education may be a potential strategy to reduce HIV risk among women with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders.

Learning Areas:
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
List three reasons women with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders are at increased risk of HIV. Describe the rationale for integrating leadership into HIV prevention for women with co-occurring substance abuse and mental health disorders. Discuss three outcomes in which the intervention group showed improvement over the comparison group.

Keywords: HIV Risk Behavior, Women and HIV/AIDS

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Because I was the project coordinator and participated in all aspects of the project.
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.