The Health, Enlightenment, Awareness, and Living (HEAL) Intervention: Outcome of an HIV and Hepatitis B and C Risk Reduction Intervention.

African American women have among the highest HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B and C incidence rates in the United States, especially among those homeless or incarcerated. The objective of this study was to evaluate the Health Enlightenment, Awareness and Living Intervention, designed to decrease HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and related risky behaviors. The thirteen-session intervention was implemented among homeless and formerly incarcerated low-income African American women, ages 18 to 55, in Atlanta, Georgia from 2006 to 2010. A single group repeated measures study design was employed and consisted of a pre-test (n = 355) group, an immediate post-test (n = 228) group with a response rate of 64%, and a six-month follow up (n = 110) group with response rate of 48%, completing a 135-item survey. Paired-sample t-tests, McNemar tests, and repeated measures ANOVA were applied to compare survey results. Participants demonstrated statistically significant increases in hepatitis B and C knowledge over time (p < 0.001). Statistically significant decreases were also reported for unprotected sex in exchange for money, drugs or shelter (p = 0.008), and sex under the influence of drugs or alcohol (p < 0.001). Reported substance use decreased with statistical significance for alcohol (p = 0.011), marijuana (p = 0.011), illegal drugs (p = 0.002), and crack/cocaine (p = 0.003). Findings broaden the evidence base related to the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis risk reduction interventions designed for homeless and previously incarcerated African American women.

Using evaluability assessment and evaluation capacity-building to strengthen community-based prevention initiatives.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the process of community-campus engagement in an initiative developed to build evaluation capacities of community-based organizations (CBOs). METHODS: Evaluability assessment, capacity-building, self administered surveys and semi-structured interviews were conducted from 2004 to 2007 and analyzed through transcript assessment and SPSS to identify trends, relationships and capacity changes over time. RESULTS: Evaluability assessment identified CBO strengths in program planning and implementation and challenges in measurable objective development, systematic use of mixed methods, data management and analysis. Evaluability assessment informed evaluation capacity-building (ECB) trainings, teleconferences and webinars that resulted in statistically significant improvements in evaluation knowledge, skills, and abilities. Post-initiative interviews indicated CBO preferences for face-to-face training in logic model development, mixed method data collection and analysis. CONCLUSION: This report illustrates the use of mixed methods to plan, implement and evaluate a model to catalyze CBOs systematic assessment of prevention initiatives and considerations in evaluation capacity-building.

The SUCCEED Legacy Grant program: enhancing community capacity to implement evidence-based interventions in breast and cervical cancer.

The Southeastern U.S. Collaborative Center of Excellence in the Elimination of Disparities Legacy Grant Program provides funding to increase community-based organizations' capacity to implement evidence-based breast and cervical cancer interventions for African American women. This article describes the development of the grant process, summarizes Legacy grantee outcomes, and discusses lessons learned.

Applications in bridging the gap: a community-campus partnership to address sexual health disparities among African-American youth in the south.

Risky sexual behavior among African-American youth increases risks for sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancy. This article describes a community-academic partnership to assess The 2 HYPE Abstinence Club, a program combining abstinence education with stress management and creative arts promotion for African-American youth ages 12-18. Bi-directional learning and communication systems were established to facilitate culturally relevant evaluation approaches, quality assurance in data collection, and action-based protocols for on-going improvement. Assessment tools included self-administered surveys and focus groups to gauge intervention effectiveness and perceptions regarding abstinence, sexual peer norms and intervention characteristics. Statistically significant increases in the understanding of abstinence benefits and sexual activity risks were observed and youth identified goal-setting and refusal skills as most important program components. Youth-instructor relationships and the integration of hip-hop were reasons cited for sustained participation. This assessment partnership represents a rapport with minority youth and a participatory evaluation approach adding programmatic and evidence-based value to intervention efforts.