Evaluation of an HIV Prevention Intervention Designed for African American Women: Results from the SISTA Community-Based Organization Behavioral Outcomes Project

Abstract

One of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's strategies for addressing racial disparities within the HIV epidemic is to support the implementation of HIV prevention behavioral interventions designed for African Americans. One such intervention is Sisters Informing Sisters about Topics on AIDS (SISTA), a culturally relevant and gender-specific, five-session, group-level, HIV prevention intervention designed for African American women. In 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded five community-based organizations to conduct outcome monitoring of SISTA to assess the outcomes associated with implementation in the field. Using a 90-day recall, demographic and sexual risk data were collected from participants at baseline and at 90 and 180 days post-intervention. Findings reveal that women participating in SISTA (n = 432) demonstrated a significant reduction in sexual risk between baseline and both follow-up time points for each of the six outcomes being measured (e.g., any unprotected sex, all protected sex).

Adapting an evidence-based HIV-prevention intervention for women in domestic violence shelters.

“…SISTA has been widely disseminated (Collins, Harshbarger, Sawyer, & Hamdallah, 2006) and implemented in community based organizations serving African American women at risk for contracting HIV (Prather et al, 2006; Sapiano et al, 2013). SISTA has been adapted for women in South Africa (Saleh-Onoya et al, 2008; Wingood, Reddy, et al, 2013), African American women who attend church (Wingood, Robinson, et al, 2013; Wingood, Simpson-Robinson, Braxton, & Raiford, 2011), and Latinas (Wingood, DiClemente, et al, 2011).…”

Incorporation of Social Determinants of Health in the Peer-Reviewed Literature: A Systematic Review of Articles Authored by the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention

“…We identified 190 articles on health and health care, most of which had a minimal SDH focus (162/190; 85%). 26,28,42,47,52 –54,56,59,64,73,82,84,86,91,93,102,106,116,117,127,128,139,141,144,147,148,151 –153,160 –162,164,165,167,169,172,174,175,179,183,186,187,192,197,198,202 –204,213,217 –219,226,229,233,235,236,243 –245,247 –249,…”

“…28,38,39,44,50,51,61,74,78,84,89,96,101,110,111,117,119,126,127,141,148,149,151,152,158,159,164,168,175,180,189,192,197,198,204, The 25 articles with a substantial focus on social or community context included those that focused on testing for disease (eg, HIV, STDs) in communities, prevention campaigns or interventions designed for communities or incarcerated populations, and community-level associations. 43,45,52,53,87,88,94,106,139,193,[236][237][238][239][240][241][242]…”

Lessons Learned From Dissemination of Evidence-Based Interventions for HIV Prevention

“…Findings from these studies indicate that CBOs implementing these interventions in real-world settings were able to obtain and maintain outcomes similar to those observed by the original researchers. [38][39][40][41][42] The DEBI Project, which shifted the field of HIV prevention toward evidence-based practice, was an essential component of the broader HIV prevention landscape. 38 CDC has initiated High Impact Prevention, which supports the dissemination and implementation of cost-effective EBIs for focus populations with the highest HIV incidence.…”