‘I learned to accept every part of myself’: the transformative impact of a theatre-based sexual health and HIV prevention programme

Abstract

Theatre-based interventions have been used in health promotion activities among young people to address HIV and sexual health. In this study, we explored the experience of undergraduate student performers participating in a theatre-based HIV prevention and sexual health education intervention for high school students in the USA. Undergraduate students enrolled in a credit-bearing course to learn about HIV and sexual health, participatory theatre and health education techniques. We analysed students’ reflective essays written throughout the semester to identify any changes and the intervention processes that promoted these changes. Students experienced five interrelated forms of transformation: (1) increased knowledge about HIV and sexual health; (2) changes in attitude and communication about sex; (3) artistic growth; (4) emotional growth; and (5) clarification of career goals and future plans. Intervention processes that contributed to these transformations included improvisation, guided writing exercises, the creation of a close-knit cohesive group, and interactions with a group of HIV-positive speakers. Theatre-based, peer-led sexual health programmes can provide a transformative experience for undergraduate student performers. The transformative effects are linked to specific activities and processes of the intervention and require examination in future research.

A Critical Review of the Characteristics of Theater-Based HIV Prevention Interventions for Adolescents in School Settings

“…In addition to studying intervention outcomes based on the theoretical underpinnings of critical consciousness and transformation from TO (Grewe et al, 2015), AMP! ’s efficacy has also been examined based on constructs from the TRA and SCT, focusing on changing attitudes, norms, and skills related to adolescent HIV/AIDS prevention.…”

“…Few studies have evaluated interventions in English-speaking, high-income countries such as the United States, Canada, or the United Kingdom (Glik et al, 2002; Kamo, Carlson, Brennan, & Earls, 2008; Simons, 2011), where the incidence of HIV is increasing among adolescents. Most studies that evaluated theater-based interventions for HIV prevention in high-income countries have focused on actors’ behavioral changes (Grewe et al, 2015); however, to our knowledge, few studies have evaluated changes in participant behaviors (Daykin et al, 2008; Glik et al, 2002; Joronen et al, 2008; Lightfoot et al, 2015; Simons, 2011). As theater-based approaches continue to gain popularity and accumulate evidence of their effectiveness, more robust research is needed to understand how such interventions work, and what makes them successful and replicable in adolescent populations.…”

“Because We All Trust and Care about Each Other”: Exploring Tensions Translating a Theater-based HIV Prevention Intervention into a New Context

“…as a transformative experience. 19 The elements of trust and caring that made the program a success are equally applicable to creating a strong partnership. In retrospect, this finding reinforced for the research team how important it is to create those spaces for all stakeholders.…”

“…18 We sought perspectives of several stakeholder groups: undergraduate students, university course instructor, district administrators, and classroom health teachers. We conducted three focus groups with undergraduates delivering the intervention (total n=10) over the course of the semester; 19 and, after the intervention was delivered, we conducted key informant interviews (n=6) with the college theater course instructor and community school partners, including the two district administrator collaborators and three health teachers whose students had received the intervention. The interview guide covered their work history in health education, attitudes toward sex education, and their experiences with AMP!.…”

‘The Mould that Changed the World’: Quantitative and qualitative evaluation of children’s knowledge and motivation for behavioural change following participation in an antimicrobial resistance musical

“…The power of anecdote over statistics has been recognised; the emotion that is attached to a story creates a connection to the listener and can have a significant impact on future decision-making behaviour [ 11 ]. Theatre has been successfully used as an educational tool in several different spheres, particularly in discouraging smoking, leading healthy lifestyles and improving HIV awareness [ 12 – 14 ]. Health attitudes start at an early age and evidence from climate change educational interventions indicate that children’s behaviour also influences adult behaviour within a household [ 15 ].…”