HIV counseling and testing (""""""""HIV C&T"""""""") has been a cornerstone of U.S. prevention efforts, yet its effectiveness in reducing risk for women has been limited.
The aims of this Phase II SBIR are: 1. To produce an innovate intervention for use in conjunction with HIV C&T to reduce heterosexual transmission of HIV to women-specifically, a videotape to be viewed by women who receive HIV C&T and their male partners; and 2. To rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of the videotape in reducing unprotected intercourse and increasing partner testing. The video is the product of Phase I research. It seeks to enhance HIV prevention by: (1) improving women's understanding of essential HIV counseling messages; (2) expanding the reach of counseling to the women's sexual partners, and (3) helping couple communicate about HIV risk and prevention. The intervention will undergo rigorous experimental evaluation in a randomized trial. The end product of this SBIR will be an innovative, thoroughly grounded, rigorously evaluated, cost-effective and commercially viable video intervention to reduce heterosexual transmission of HIV to women.
The proposed video will be extremely useful to HIV counseling and Testing sites, including STD clinics and hospitals, as well as private physicians, and AIDS education and outreach programs. A thorough search of relevant databases shows no videos currently available for use with HIV C&T; thus, the commercial potential of this product is strong. Miller-Fenwich, Inc., markets programs designed to assist health care professionals in effectively communicating health information to patients, is very interested in this project and considers it extremely viable from a marketing standpoint.
