SBIR-STTR Award

Healthcare Education Associates proposes to develop and evaluate an educational program that targets women in drug treatment for HIV/AIDS prevention. The program will take the form of an educational package that includes four 15-minute broadcast quality videos and a group leader's guide that contains material needed to present a program, including participant handouts. The goal of the program is twofold: 1) to prevent women in treatment from becoming infected; and 2) if already infected, to teach behaviors that will prevent them from transmitting the virus. The overall objectives of the proposed program are to increase women's: 1) knowledge of HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention; 2) perception of risk; 3) perceived self-efficacy in adopting risk reduction strategies; 4) skills in negotiating safer sex and using condoms; and 5) skills in cleaning injection equipment (among drug injectors). The proposed program is an innovative approach to HIV/AIDS prevention among drug-using women. It is the first commercially available product that provides comprehensive educational programming and materials for women substance abusers in drug treatment settings. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS: To date, no program on HIV/AIDS prevention targeting women in drug treatment is commercially available. This video-based educational package has significant commercial potential for drug treatment facilities, AIDS service organizations, hospitals, and community health centers and clinics.

The overall objectives of the proposed educational program are to increase women's: 1) knowledge of HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention; 2) perception of risk; 3) perceived self-efficacy in adopting risk reduction strategies; 4) skills in a) negotiating safer sex and b) using condoms, including the female condom; and 5) skills m cleaning injection drug equipment. The aims of Phase II are to: 1) produce four 15-minute videos; 2) produce a comprehensive facilitator's guide that includes participant handouts; 3) evaluate the effectiveness of the program in changing knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of women in drug treatment to reduce risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. The evaluation will be conducted using a randomized treatment, longitudinal quasi-experimental design in four treatment centers in each of two cities: Chicago and Los Angeles. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: The proposed program is the first commercially available product on HIV/AIDS prevention that provides comprehensive educational programming and materials for women substance abusers in drug treatment settings. This video-based educational packages has significant commercial potential for drug treatment facilities, AIDS service organizations, hospitals, and community health centers and clinics