SisterLove, Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia, is evaluating its HIV/AIDS prevention intervention called the Healthy Love Workshop (HLW). The HLW targets African American women and women of African descent who are at risk for HIV infection and transmission. The HLW, which lasts 3 to 4 hours and is delivered during a single session, is a highly interactive workshop that aims to provide a safe environment in which women can learn about: a) the modes of HIV transmission, b) effective strategies for reducing one's risk for contracting or transmitting HIV or other STIs, c) opportunities to develop or enhance skills for self-assessing the risk level of sexual behaviors and the use of safer sex techniques, and d) how to develop an awareness of personal, community and social attitudes, beliefs and norms that influence women's relationships, sexual behavior, and decision-making. SisterLove will identify a minimum of 28 groups of women to participate in the evaluation, which will use a concurrent comparison design with block randomization. These groups will be typical of those that currently receive the HLW, including but not limited to sororities, friendship circles, church groups and other affinity-based groups. Fourteen of the 28 groups will participate in HLW as the intervention group; 14 of the recruited groups will participate in an HIV/AIDS 101 workshop (HIV 101) as the comparison group. Each group will contain about 15 women, thus approximately 420 women will participate in the evaluation. Outcome measures will assess HIV/AIDS knowledge, attitudes towards condom use and HIV testing, condom use intentions, personal HIV/AIDS risk assessment, self-efficacy for taking steps to prevent HIV transmission, consistent condom use, sexual abstinence, and reduction in other sexual risk behaviors. These outcomes will be measured at baseline, and after the intervention at 3- and 6-month follow-ups.
Eligible groups of women were randomly assigned to receive the intervention (15 groups; 161 women) or a comparison workshop (15 groups; 152 women). Behavioral assessments were conducted at baseline and at 3- and 6-month follow-ups. Among sexually active women at the 3-month follow-up, HLW participants were more likely than comparison participants to report having used condoms during vaginal sex with any male partner or with a primary male partner, and to have used condoms at last vaginal, anal or oral sex with any male partner. At the 6-month follow-up, HLW participants were more likely to report condom use at last vaginal, anal or oral sex with any male partner, and having an HIV test and receiving their test results. The study findings suggest that a single-session intervention delivered to pre-existing groups of black women is an efficacious approach to HIV prevention. This study also demonstrates that a CBO can develop and deliver a culturally appropriate, effective HIV prevention intervention for the population it serves and, with adequate resources and technical assistance, rigorously evaluate its intervention.
