Evaluating the effectiveness of personal resilience and enrichment programme (PREP) for HIV prevention among female sex workers: a randomised controlled trial

Abstract

BackgroundFemale sex workers (FSWs) are often considered as the vector, if not reservoir, of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Building upon the existing evidence on the role of psychological health in sexual health, the aim of this protocol is to describe a trial investigating the effectiveness of the Personal Resilience and Enrichment Programme (PREP), a resilience-promoting intervention that targets at psychological well-being i.e. self-esteem, self-efficacy and coping, to facilitate adaptation and ultimately safe sexual practices among FSWs, which could be an innovative strategy in controlling the spread of these infections.MethodsA total of 132 FSWs will be recruited and randomly assigned to either the intervention or usual care (control) groups in a multi-centred randomised controlled trial. Based on the resilience framework, this intervention is comprised of six weekly sessions focused on the awareness, expression and management of emotions, identifying roles and personal strengths, and effective problem-solving skills. Complex intervention assessment on both intervention process and effectiveness will be adopted when the primary outcome reduction of sexual risk behaviour and other psychological outcomes include their perceived stress, self-esteem, self-efficacy, coping overall resilience, and psychological distress will be measured at baseline, post-treatment and 3-month post-intervention and differences assessed by ANOVA. The relationship of resilience factors, psychological health and HIV preventive behaviours will be evaluated using structural equation modelling.DiscussionIt is anticipated that this study will increase our understanding of the relationships between individual resilience attributes, positive adaptation, psychological health and sexual health practices. If successful, this programme will provide an innovative direction for HIV prevention by applying the personal resilience factors to promote both psychological well-being and safe sex for this high risk population.Trial RegistrationChiCTR-PRC-13003091

Evaluation and mechanism analysis of HIV prevention programme using resilience framework among female sex workers: A randomised controlled trial

“…Ethics approval was obtained from the University of Hong Kong/Hospital Authority Hong Kong West Cluster Internal Review Board prior to data collection (UW 12-220). The protocol of this multi-centred randomised controlled trial has been published (Yuen et al, 2013).…”

Curing or causing? HIV/AIDS in health care system of Punjab, Pakistan

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Group Positive Psychotherapy Improves Resilience of Gay People Living with HIV/AIDS

“…This research involves initiat ing a previously untried psychological intervention in resilience care for gay people liv ing with HIV/AIDS. A prev ious study by Yuen et al (2013) showed that psychological intervention as the Personal Resilience and Enrich ment Programme (PREP) had significant effects in improv ing the resilience and psychological state of people living with HIV/AIDS. In Indonesia, Risnawati (2011) conducted an intervention addressing psychological aspects.…”