This supplement study is an adaptation of the larger NIH-funded parent study, the Women's Health CoOp+, which tests a combination biobehavioral HIV prevention approach to enhance standard HIV testing practices for alcohol and drug (AOD)-using women across the city of Pretoria, South Africa. The current supplemental study seeks to reach AOD-using female adolescents who experience the greatest burden of new HIV infections and are currently underserved by HIV and drug-treatment programs in Cape Town, South Africa and test the validation of both the instrument and adapted intervention.
This study is testing and validating both the revised instrument and adapted intervention through a small pilot trial where a cluster randomized design is used to recruit 100 participants through snowball sampling by community to either the YWHC condition or standard HIV Counseling and Testing (HCT); collect biological specimens to screen for recent drug use, pregnancy and HIV infection and provide referrals for care to resources; conduct process evaluation measures for satisfaction and a 1-month follow-up post-intervention interview assessing the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of conducting this intervention among vulnerable young women and linking them to care. Young women from disadvantaged communities in Cape Town who have dropped out of school and who use AODs are highly vulnerable to physical victimization (violence and sexual victimization) from any perpetrator, including main sexual partners and drug-related sexual risks for HIV. Yet these vulnerable young women remain underserved by current HIV and drug treatment programs in the region, even though they are experiencing the greatest burden of new HIV infections in the country. The adapted Young Women's Health CoOp (YWHC) intervention has a high likelihood of wider implementation, sustainability, and a significant public health impact by reducing the exceedingly high HIV incidence amongst the most vulnerable populations in South Africa.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Participants in this group will participate in two workshops of the young woman-focused intervention about HIV/STIs (sexually transmitted infections), sexual behaviors, alcohol and other drug use, violence, communication skills, and other issues. Participants will develop personalized risk reduction action plans at the end of each workshop session.
Participants will be tested for HIV and if positive will receive counseling in accordance with national standards.
RTI International
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, United States
Unprotected intercourse among women
Percentages of condom use at last sex
Time frame: One month post-intervention
Alcohol use
Frequency of alcohol use in past 30 days measured by RRBA (Revised Risk Behavior Assessment) and breath test
Time frame: One month post-intervention
Alcohol use
Frequency of alcohol use in past 30 days measured by breath test
Time frame: One month post-intervention
Substance use
Use of benzodiazepines, cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine), marijuana and/or mandrax as determined by PRBA (Pretoria Risk Behavior Assessment)
Time frame: One month post-intervention
Substance use
Use of benzodiazepines, cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine), marijuana and/or mandrax as determined by self-report
Time frame: One month post-intervention
Victimization
Percentages of young women who report being beaten in the previous 30 days
Time frame: One month post-intervention
Victimization
Percentages of young women who report being attacked with a weapon in the previous 30 days
Time frame: One month post-intervention
Victimization
Percentages of young women who report being forced to have sex in the previous 30 days
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Enrollment
100
Time frame: One month post-intervention