142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Home Events & Meetings Annual Meeting Schedule & Program

Online Program

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

308069
HIV/STI Outreach, Prevention, Education (HOPE): Effects on Healthy Sexuality Knowledge, Perceived Norms, Efficacy, and Behavior

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 : 10:45 AM - 11:00 AM

Thomas Reischl, PhD , Health Behavior and Health Eduction, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI
LaBreonna Bland, BS , Prevention Research Center of Michigan, University of Michigan School of Public Health, FLINT, MI
Bettina Campbell, LMSW , YOUR Center, Flint, MI
Terrance Campbell, MSISM, MA Ed, PhD Candidate , YOUR Center, Flint, MI
Alison Grodzinski, MLIS , Prevention Research Center of Michigan, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Susan Franzen, MS , Prevention Research Center of Michigan, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Flint, MI
Susan Morrel-Samuels, MA, MPH , Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI
Tawnya Simon, RN, BSN, MS , Saginaw County Department of Public Health, Saginaw, MI
Marc Zimmerman, PhD , Prevention Research Center of Michigan, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
Background: Nearly 20 million new cases of sexually transmitted infections (including 50,000 HIV cases) occur in the US each year. African Americans represent 14% of the U.S. population, yet account for approximately one-third of chlamydia cases, one-half of HIV and syphilis cases, and two-thirds of gonorrhea cases. This study evaluated a community-based intervention designed to address this disparity in two communities (Flint and Saginaw, Michigan). We evaluated HIV/STI Outreach, Prevention, Education (HOPE) parties, a face-to-face intervention coupled with a social media booster. The HOPE parties (developed by YOUR Center, a community-based organization) were implemented with young (18-24 years) African Americans, who hosted a HOPE party to empower their friends to engage in healthy sexual behaviors.

Methods: We used a two-group quasi-experimental design.  One group (Flint) participated in a HOPE party and social media intervention while another group (Saginaw) participated only in a HOPE party. Party participants completed baseline pretest surveys before the party and follow-up posttest surveys 3, 6, and 12 months later. This study reports on initial outcome analyses of 295 participants after the 3-month posttest.

Results: Among all participants, there were statistically significant improvements in healthy sexuality perceived norms, efficacy, knowledge; healthy communications with partners; and alcohol and drug use before sex.  There were no significant improvements associated with the social media intervention.

Conclusions:  We will discuss the potential of the HOPE party intervention in preventing STIs among African Americans and the challenges in implementing social media interventions in public health education initiatives.

Learning Areas:

Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs

Learning Objectives:
Describe the HIV/STI Outreach, Prevention, Education (HOPE) intervention model and its effects on participants' knowledge, perceived norms, efficacy, and behavior.

Keyword(s): Community Health Programs, Sexual Risk Behavior

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: For the past 35 years, I have engaged in the development and the evaluation of a wide variety of community-based health promotion interventions. I earn a PhD in Community Psychology with a minor in program evaluation studies. For the past 14 years, I have been the Evaluation Director of the Prevention Research Center of Michigan.
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.

Back to: 4159.0: Innovative programs in sexual and reproductive health