Preventing HIV/AIDS Among Hard-to-Reach Women
The National Institute on Drug Abuse asked Abt Associates to develop an AIDS prevention program for at-risk women that could be used by substance abuse treatment professionals as well as clients. The Community-Based Model on HIV/AIDS Prevention Among Hard-to-Reach Women is targeted at female sexual partners of injection drug users not in treatment. In many cases, the women are not necessarily drug users themselves. The program package consists of several components. The first component is an introduction to HIV/AIDS prevention programs and to the hard-to-reach women program in particular. It presents the research basis for this program, issues program administrators will have to address in deciding whether to implement this approach, considerations about how different program types (e.g., HIV, drug treatment, etc.) can best use the program, and recommendations about how to use the program. Abt Associates also developed a handbook for program administrators describing the experiences of five communities involved in the hard-to-reach women's program research. It addresses questions likely to be raised by researchers, administrators, service workers and communities. The handbook presents information on program planning and implementation, training, outreach, community resources and referral, interviewing, intervention, client participation and recreation, and program outcome analyses. In addition, Abt Associates developed staff training and client training curricula.