Participation of the school community in AIDS education: An evaluation of a high school programme in South Africa

Abstract

An AIDS education programme was developed and evaluated in a high school in a socio-economically disadvantaged, urban, African area in South Africa. The programme, which addressed the whole school community, aimed to raise awareness about AIDS using a variety of educational methods and operating through a number of channels. Students and teachers were actively involved in its design and implementation. Students' knowledge of and attitudes towards AIDS prevention were investigated before and after the AIDS programme, and compared to a neighbouring school, in which no AIDS education was conducted. The programme greatly improved student knowledge of HIV transmission and prevention. It increased levels of acceptance of people with AIDS and had a small impact on behavioural intentions. The process of involving the school community in the design of the AIDS education programme is discussed.

Diferenças na prevenção da Aids entre homens e mulheres jovens de escolas públicas em São Paulo, SP

“…Outros estudos encontraram mudanças nas práticas de risco, 5,16 mas não foram feitas comparações entre homens e mulheres. A literatura tem descrito 9,18,21 que, nas relações estáveis, o poder de negociação permanece menor, pois, quando se liga sexo ao amor, em geral as pessoas se sentem protegidas.…”

“…Vários estudos 3,16,19 identificaram importantes lacunas no conhecimento sobre HIV e Aids e, ao mesmo tempo, indicaram que apenas aumentar o nível de informação sobre as vias de transmissão do HIV e sobre a necessidade de usar o preservativo não garante as mudanças de práticas. 3,6,9,13,16,[18][19][20] Importantes diferenças têm sido relatadas nos modos de viver a sexualidade entre homens e mulheres jovens, com conseqüências para o uso de preservativos.…”

“…3,6,9,13,16,[18][19][20] Importantes diferenças têm sido relatadas nos modos de viver a sexualidade entre homens e mulheres jovens, com conseqüências para o uso de preservativos. As normas culturais presentes na socialização de meninos e meninas para a vida sexual continuam colocando homens e mulheres em situações vulneráveis que resultam na gravidez indesejada e em doenças sexualmente transmissíveis.…”

Evaluating HIV/STD Interventions in Developing Countries: Do Current Indicators Do Justice to Advances in Intervention Approaches?

“…While traditional didactic intervention methods remain common, it is vital to recognise that in many cases videos, pamphlets, STD care and lectures are being used in conjunction with active community participation and as vehicles for peer education. Interventions aimed at school children often attempt to completely submerge their subjects in discussion and thought about HIV by adopting an HIV theme for all school activities during a certain period of time (Kuhn et al, 1994). A methodology such as this will usually include both didactic and participatory methods.…”

“…Other commonly used interventions included condom promotion and/or distribution (11%), peer education (7%), provision of or improvement of STD care (7%), educational videos/films (7%), distribution of pamphlets (5%), condom demonstrations (5%), lectures (5%), role plays (5%), educational posters (4%) and use of mass media (3%). A few innovative interventions were recorded across the different studies, but were especially concentrated in two schoolbased interventions (Klepp et al, 1994;Kuhn, Steinberg & Mathews, 1994). These include the use of cartoons (n=2), poster creation (n=2), drama (n=2), collective action (n=2) and skills development (n=1).…”