Bridging the Gap: Conference Record [Abstract book, International Conference on AIDS (12th: 1998: Geneva, Switzerland)]

694 Abstracts 33529-33534

12th World AIDS Conference

targeting at risk populations previously not reached through mainstream AIDS
education campaigns. Tribe members highlighted the importance of being supported to create their own realistic and meaningful health promotion messages.
The evaluation also showed that a large number of past participants felt more
empowered about their health and wellbeing as a result of being involved in the
project. Some have gone on to further employment or training linked to skills
gained in their project.
Lessons learned: That peer driven interventions are the key to successful IDU
Health Promotion.
S33529 Reducing risk taking behaviour in the field of HIV/AIDS
among street children through peer education and
empowerment
Bitra George. 2492 Sector-D Pocket-2, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-110070, India
Issue: Using peer educators to spread awareness about HIV/AIDS, can be an
effective method in reducing risk of acquiring infection among street children.
Project: Street children are vulnerable to HIV/AIDS infection through frequent
change of sexual partners, negligible condom usage, inadequate, inaccessible &
unfriendly medical facilities, lack of sufficient information and substance abuse
including injecting drug use. A targetted programme was initiated to check spread
of HIV/AIDS by using older children as peers (older boys & girls) from 7 outreach
centres around New Delhi Railway Station, who were trained in various aspects
of human physiology, basics of HIV/AIDS, condom usage, first aid measures and
counselling skills. The trained peers were later motivated to spread awareness
about HIV/AIDS to 500 children at and around the station. Making basic health
services more accessible to street children, developing of and improving upon
existing IEC package to make it street child friendly and involvement of street
children in the programme structure at all levels including policy making level, are
the fundamental programme components.
Result: Over the past 3 years, dissemination of information through peer educators on the issue of HIV/AIDS among street children, has led to a decline in
the incidence rates of STD infection, better awareness of proper condom usage,
prompt treatment of medical ailments, HIV testing after adequate counselling (15
tested - all negative) and less risk seeking behaviour.
Empowering children to run programmes after adequate training and using
them as peer educators is an excellent method for spreading awareness about
HIV/AIDs and reducing risk taking behaviour among street children.
33530 Sex education before safe sex education for gay men
Bruce Maguire. 103 Fifth Avenue, Mount Lawley, 6050 Western, Australia,
Australia
Issue: Sex plays a major role for gay men who are just becoming sexually aware
or active, in gaining peer approval and developing a place in the gay community.
It is not enough to know about safe sex in order to avoid HIV or AIDS - skills are
needed. Most gay men are too embarrassed to actively seek out gay sex information. Strategies in HIV prevention encouraging safer non-penetrative alternatives
mistakenly assume that gay men automatically have the skills and techniques to
perform these activities comfortably. De-stigmatisation of gay love-making and
increased community discourse about gay sex can serve to counter a lack of
access to gay sex information.
Project: Nitty Gritties is a free five session course offered to gay men of
all ages. The course covers anatomy; physiology; self examination and sexual
maintenance; sexual negotiation; safe sex; HIV, STD and opportunistic infection
avoidance; unsafe sex and risk assessment, sexual techniques and other issues
participants may wish to discuss.
Results: Men who have the sexual confidence to successfully negotiate sex
itself find less difficulty in negotiating safe sex. Sexual risk assessment often involves sophisticated cognitive processes, which may be ill-informed, HIV-phobic
or inconsistent. Gay male knowledge of anatomy, physiology and sex technique
is very poor.
Conclusion: Participants report increased skills and comfort in all stated course
objectives.

ness of sexually transmitted infections and the sexual health services with the
objective of recruiting the young people's involvement in the project as peer
educators.
Results: A total of 655 young black people have been reached within a period
of 3 months, using interactive comedy and drama as a medium of communication.
Conclusion: Heath promotion through community intervention is a very effective model of education. Our project demonstrates the demand for and the
feasibility of such programs in UK and illustrates the value of these services
in achieving behaviour changes. Such programs should be considered as an
effective approach to reducing HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.
i 33532 AIDS prevention for low-income African-American
women
Barbara Dancy1, K. Norr1, R. Marcantonio2, E. Smith1. 1University of Illinois at
Chicago, Chicago, IL; 2SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA
Objective: To assess the impact of a culturally-specific six-session AIDS Prevention Intervention for low-income inner city African American women on knowledge,
attitude, and behavior change.
Design: An interrupted time series design with switching replication.
Methods: In Phase 1, women were recruited from two geographically distinct
but demographically and environmentally similar communities. The two communities were randomly assigned to either the AIDS Prevention Intervention or
the control Health Maintenance Intervention. Peer leaders from each community
were trained to deliver the intervention. Women were tested immediately before
and after intervention and at 3, 6 and 9 months after the intervention. At each
follow-up, women participated in booster sessions. In Phase 2, after the 9-month
follow-up, the interventions were switched. We are now conducting Phase 2.
In Phase 1, the sample consisted of 286 women: 151 in the AIDS Prevention
Intervention and 135 in the Health Maintenance Intervention. Their mean age
was 32 years. The retention was 72% at the 9-month follow-up.
Results: The preliminary results revealed significant treatment effects across
time for positive attitudes about condom use, knowledge of condom use, self-efficacy to stick to a decision to use condoms, increased low-risk AIDS behaviors,
commitment to enhance AIDS prevention, and perceived AIDS vulnerability.
Culturally-specific AIDS prevention interventions based on social learning theory and taught by peer leaders are helpful in promoting attitudes and behaviors
conducive to the reduction of HIV/AIDS. Inner city low-income African American women can change their attitudes and behaviors when they participate in
appropriate and intensive interventions in their own community.
S33533 European joint action plan on AIDS peer education to
reach young people in and outside the school system
Gary Svenson1. Partners in 10 European; 'Dept of Community Medicine, Lund
University, Malmd Univ Hospital; 2National and Academic Inst of Public Health,
Sweden
Issue: The use of AIDS peer education with young people is expanding rapidly,
few sources of information exist, and there is a in lack of evaluation research.
Project: In partnership with 10 national and academic public health institutions
in 9 European countries, an extensive search and review of the AIDS peer education related literature was carried out. Thereafter, qualitative interviews were
conducted with 24 selected peer education projects in 11 European countries.
Interviewees included peer educators, project co-ordinators, trainers, intermediaries, policy makers and evaluators. At an expert meeting, peer education
experts, policy makers, researchers and young people from 14 European Union
countries drafted a final version of European guidelines for AIDS peer education
with young people based on the literature review and the interviews.
Result: The Guidelines in 8 languages, a descriptive bibliography, and an
interactive Internet site. The Internet site includes a project locator, discussion
forums for young people and peer educators, practitioners, policy makers, and
researchers/evaluators, and free downloads of the guidelines and bibliography.
Lessons Learned: The project was shown to be an efficient way to gather
data, share multi-cultural viewpoints, disseminate information and to create a
multi-national network.
33534 Peer education in community centres and at youth
groups: Higher level of knowledge and safer behavioural
intentions
Onno De Zwart1, M.A.J. Wagemans1, W.A.J.M. Swart1, Th.G.M. Sandfort2.
'Municipal Health Service Rotterdam, Schiedamsedijk, Rotterdam, 2Dutch
Institute for Social-Sex Research, NISSO, The Netherlands
Background: To assess the effects of a peer-led group intervention on knowledge and intention of young people aged 15 to 30 in Rotterdam. To analyse the
experiences of the peer educators (PEs) who carried out the intervention.
Methods: In 1996 and 1997 60 two-hour peer led workshops took place in

community centres and at youth groups. The workshop consisted of information
on HIV, STDs and contraception, interactive games to discuss safe and unsafer
sexual techniques and excuses for unsafer sex and a condom-instruction. The
PEs received a three-day training and participated in monthly meetings. Participants of the workshop where asked to fill in a structured survey before the
intervention, directly after the intervention and 3-months post-intervention (using
a self-addressed envelope). After the last intervention semi-structured interviews

133531

Community intervention program of sexual health
promotion around program STDs, unwanted pregnancy,
HIV/AIDS and safer sex practices targeting young black
people in an inner London area

Sarah Kakayi. Blackliner, Unit 46, Eurolink Business Centre, 49 Effra Road,
London, UK
Objectives: To carry out outreach programs with assistance of volunteers within
the target category to reach out to venues frequented by young black people and
organise health promotion entertainment events.
Design: Project is evidenced by research from King's College Hospital and
statistics from Public health Laboratory Service - London on the prevalence of
sexually transmitted infections in LSL, an inner London area. Studies show that
men and women from the black ethnic groups have an increasing higher rate of
sexually transmitted infections higher than that of other white ethnic groupings.
Method: A number of health promotion initiatives have been undertaken targeting young black people. As a result of networking and self-introduction, we
have been invited to give talks in schools, colleges and other youth centres.
We have also held interactive health promotion comedy events to raise aware