Education Development Center, Inc., in collaboration with community partners and an award-winning film production company, will develop and evaluate No Excuses/Sin Buscar Excusas, a brief group-level behavioral intervention designed for culturally-diverse English- and Spanish-speaking Latino men who have sex with men (MSM). The intervention consists of three core elements: (1) Video viewing in a small group setting; (2) Structured brief group discussion; (3) Condom distribution, offer of HIV testing and referral for additional services and support. These core elements address social-cognitive theoretical constructs related to individual, relationship, situational, social and cultural correlates of sexual risk behaviors identified in prior studies by the investigative team. This prior work includes qualitative and quantitative research for the CDC multi-site Brothers y Hermanos study. No Excuses/Sin Buscar Excusas draws on the growing body of evidence that brief interventions can work, and the accumulating evidence that reaching the target audience as well as sustaining prevention efforts requires simpler approaches. Key prevention messages (abstinence, faithful monogamy, consistent and correct condom use, and appropriate HIV testing) are highlighted in role model stories depicted in videos and then discussed in the structured group session that follows video viewing.
The specific aims are to: ? ? 1. Obtain additional community input and finalize the No Excuses/Sin Buscar Excusas brief video-based intervention, which is now in draft in English and Spanish, as described in the proposal; ? ? 2. Collaborate with the Multi-Site Steering Committee to develop a set of recruitment procedures and a core set of assessment items, incorporating PEMS data elements, to determine whether the intervention is efficacious in promoting positive behavioral changes related to sexual risk behaviors; ? ? 3. Conduct a randomized controlled trial in which approximately 400 Latino men who have sex with men (200 primary English-speakers; 200 primary Spanish-speakers) are assigned to the intervention condition or a comparison condition (i.e., standard HIV counseling/testing); ? ? 4. Evaluate the efficacy of No Excuses/Sin Buscar Excusas in reducing sexual risk behaviors at a 3- month follow-up. ? ? Latino MSM continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS, and there is little evidence that existing behavioral interventions meet their prevention needs. This study will test whether a brief intervention is effective in supporting men in their efforts to reduce risk behaviors associated with HIV acquisition and transmission. ? ? ?
| Zaller, Nick; Yang, Cui; Operario, Don et al. (2017) Alcohol and cocaine use among Latino and African American MSM in 6 US cities. J Subst Abuse Treat 80:26-32 |
