Abstract
Background: South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago are disproportionately impacted by high rates of HIV/AIDS among adolescents. Objective: The article describes the HIV crises in these countries; outlines a community participatory research framework to adapt and deliver family-based prevention; and presents preliminary data from intervention pilots in each setting. Methods: Adapted interventions were piloted with N = 140 families in South Africa and N = 16 families in Trinidad and Tobago to refine recruitment and retention efforts and to assess the adapted interventions' impact on family and risk-related constructs. Results: Both settings reported promising results including high recruitment and retention and favourable pre to post changes in parent/youth frequency and comfort in talking about sensitive subjects, HIV transmission knowledge and attitudes about persons with HIV/AIDS. Conclusion: International HIV-prevention alliances are increasing. Such alliances are challenged by trust issues, power-differentials and ideological differences. Recommendations are provided on how some challenges can be overcome.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 905-916 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Journal of pediatric psychology |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue number | 9 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Oct 2006 |
Funding
In 2000, US researchers approached researchers at two premier South African facilities, the Human Sciences Research Council and the University of KwaZulu-Natal, to pilot CHAMP in the black South African townships of KwaZulu-Natal, which have been ravished by HIV/AIDS. At the same time, a community agency in T&T, the Family Planning Association of Trinidad and Tobago (FPATT), also approached researchers to adapt and pilot CHAMP for the islands’ adolescents. In each location, US and local collaborators successfully secured funding from the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) to conduct a large-scale, longitudinal intervention trial in South Africa and a smaller adaptation study in T&T. The CHAMP in the United States, South Africa, and T&T has been supported primarily by grant funding from the NIMH Center for Mental Health Research on AIDS. We thank the CHAMP staff and community advisory boards in each location for their extraordinary work on these initiatives. We are also very grateful to the many parents/caregivers and youth who have participated in our research.
Keywords
- Adolescent HIV/AIDS
- Community collaboration
- International HIV/AIDS prevention
- South Africa
- Trinidad and Tobago
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
