‘I learned to be okay with talking about sex and safety’: assessing the efficacy of a theatre-based HIV prevention approach for adolescents in North Carolina

Abstract

Adolescents are at increased risk of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the Southern states of the USA, where rates among youth are higher than in the rest of the nation. This paper reports on findings from a pilot study of an HIV prevention intervention that uses interactive theatre to educate young people about sexual health. The intervention was developed in Los Angeles and adapted for testing in the South of the USA, with its legacy of abstinence-based approaches to sexual health education. This study assessed intervention effects among a sample of young people in two public high schools in North Carolina. We used a pre-test, post-test quasi-experimental evaluation design to assess changes in 317 ninth grade participants’ knowledge and attitudes about HIV. At post-test, we found statistically significant increases in participants’ HIV knowledge (t= 60.14; p=.001), as well as changes in attitudes (X2=8.23; p=.042) and awareness (X2=4.94; p=.026). Focus group data corroborated increase in HIV knowledge and reduction in HIV stigma as successful outcomes of intervention participation. The findings make an important contribution to the literature on theatre-based interventions for sexual health education. Furthermore, they highlight the importance of considering socio-cultural and political context in implementing HIV prevention interventions in schools.

AMP!: A Cross-site Analysis of the Effects of a Theater-based Intervention on Adolescent Awareness, Attitudes, and Knowledge about HIV

“…Moreover, peer-education strategies characterized by using actors who resemble participants (i.e., actors are of a similar age, gender, and race of participants) are shown to increase intervention uptake as they are more culturally and developmentally appropriate for adolescents than traditional teaching methods (Lieberman et al, 2012). Previous evaluations of theater-based interventions have shown that adolescents find these approaches more acceptable and memorable than traditional teaching methods (Lieberman et al, 2012; Lightfoot, Taboada, Taggart, Trang, & Burtaine, 2015). The use of theater-based peer education strategies for adolescent HIV and other STIs prevention may be more effective than traditional teaching methods and warrant further evaluation (Joronen et al, 2008).…”

“…in North Carolina found that high school participants manifested statistically significant changes in HIV knowledge and attitudes towards safe sex and people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), and that high school participants preferred AMP! to a standard health education class (Lightfoot et al, 2015). However, the research team recognized the need for well-designed (i.e., methodologically rigorous) and theory-driven evaluations of theater-based HIV prevention interventions in school settings.…”

Evaluation of the impact on audiences of Inside Out of Mind, research-based theatre for dementia carers

“…Audiences have typically been university students on their way to a professional qualification or medical personnel already registered with a professional body (Fix et al, 2012;Wasylko & Stickley, 2003). Lay publics with an interest in a particular topic have sometimes been co-creators as well as audiences for such productions (Lightfoot, Taboada, Taggart, Tran, & Burtaine, 2015;Quinlan & Duggleby, 2009). De la Croix et al reported that medical students engaged in arts-related activities felt that this helped them to form a professional identity, to reflect, thus improving self-awareness, to empathise more with patients and to communicate better (de la Croix, Rose, Wildig, & Willson, 2011).…”

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

“…The instructor trained the undergraduates enrolled in the course (n=10) in interactive theater techniques, and public health graduate students led them in a short course on sexual health and HIV prevention. 5 Beyond the university campus, our collaboration involved two school district administrators who oversaw health programs and curricula. They coordinated logistics with schools, connected us with the teachers to whose students AMP!…”