RESUMO
PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to test the effectiveness of an 8 session intervention program to prevent sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among at-risk prostitutes. METHOD: An experimental research design was employed. Subjects were 59 prostitutes (29 in the control group and 30 in the experimental group) who agreed to participate in this study. An STD Prevention Framework derived from Cox's Interaction Model of Client Health Behavior guided the overall intervention and the components. The intervention had 8 sessions with STD-prevention strategies and was led by Public Health Nurses. Analysis included change scores, chi2-test, and t-test. RESULT: The results revealed significant increase in feelings and skills of condom use, peer belief on condom use, condom use practice, and satisfaction with service at public health centers (PHC) on STDs knowledge and skills in the experimental group. However, newly contracted STDs were not significant statistically between groups. CONCLUSION: The 8 session STDs prevention program showed a effect on emotions, skills and behaviors of condom use even withthe limitation of methodological rigors because of subject-specific conditions. In the future, a capacity-building model based on collaborating networks among community-based organizations will be needed to develop in effective STDs prevention.