SBIR-STTR Award

Black men who have sex with men (MSM) have been disproportionately affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States. Yet, there are very few scientifically demonstrated effective HIV prevention interventions targeting Black MSM. This SBIR Phase I project will address this gap by creating an adaptation kit to support the delivery of the popular SISTA/SIHLE/WILLOW HIV prevention suite with Black MSM. Product development will occur through a participatory research process with two community-based organizations with long histories of providing HIV prevention services to Black MSM. The project will lay the foundation for the development of an innovative modular adaptation kit in which each activity module will be presented in multiple delivery formats (e.g., face-to-face, multimedia, online) and with different versions specifically tailored to sub- populations of Black MSM. In this way, HIV prevention providers will be able to select from activity versions that match their clients'needs, thereby minimizing adaptation costs and reducing the likelihood of straying from the proven intervention's underlying logic and core elements. The final deliverables of the Phase I project will be a complete set of adapted activity modules for a two to hour session from the SISTA/SIHLE/WILLOW suite and a detailed outline for the entire adaptation kit to be developed in Phase II. , ,

Public Health Relevance:
Black men who have sex with men (MSM) have been disproportionately affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States. Yet, there are very few scientifically demonstrated effective HIV prevention interventions targeting Black MSM. This project will address this gap by creating an adaptation kit to support the delivery of the popular SISTA/SIHLE/WILLOW HIV prevention suite with Black MSM. The project will develop an innovative modular adaptation kit in which each activity module will be presented in multiple delivery formats (e.g., face-to-face, multimedia, online) and with different versions specifically tailored to sub-populations of Black MSM. In this way, HIV prevention provider will be able to select from activity versions that match their clients'needs, thereby minimizing adaptation costs and reducing the likelihood of straying from the proven intervention's underlying logic and core elements. This user-friendly and cost-effective modular approach provides a model that can be applied to program adaptation kits for a wide range of public health issues. The project will also generate extensive process data that will illuminate the possibilities and challenges of balancing program fidelity and meeting client and organizational needs in program adaptation on the frontline.

Thesaurus Terms:
21+ Years Old;Aids Virus;Aids Prevention;Aids/Hiv;Aids/Hiv Prevention;Aids/Hiv Problem;Aod Use;Accounting;Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Virus;Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Virus;Address;Adolescent;Adolescent Youth;Adult;Affect;African American;Afro American;Afroamerican;Age;Alcohol Or Other Drugs Use;Attention;Black Populations;Black Or African American;Cdc;Centers For Disease Control;Centers For Disease Control (U.S.);Centers For Disease Control And Prevention;Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (U.S.);Client;Communities;Development;Elements;Epidemic;Equilibrium;Evidence Based Intervention;Face;Focus Groups;Foundations;Gender;Hiv;Hiv Infections;Hiv Prevention;Hiv/Aids;Hiv/Aids Prevention;Hiv/Aids Problem;Htlv-Iii;Htlv-Iii Infections;Htlv-Iii-Lav Infections;History;Hour;Human Immunodeficiency Viruses;Human T-Cell Leukemia Virus Type Iii;Human T-Cell Lymphotropic Virus Type Iii;Human T-Lymphotropic Virus Type Iii;Human, Adult;Individual;Infection;Intervention;Intervention Strategies;Interview;Lav-Htlv-Iii;Life;Logic;Lymphadenopathy-Associated Virus;Manuals;Modality;Modeling;Multimedia;Multimedium;Prov;Phase;Population;Preparation;Prevention;Preventive Intervention;Process;Production;Programs (Pt);Programs [publication Type];Provider;Public Health;Recording Of Previous Events;Reporting;Research;Sbir;Sbirs (R43/44);Salix;San Francisco;Severities;Sex Behavior;Sexual Activity;Sexual Behavior;Small Business Innovation Research;Small Business Innovation Research Grant;Staging;Survey Instrument;Surveys;T-Lymphotropic Virus Type Iii Infections, Human;Testing;Training;United States;United States Centers For Disease Control;United States Centers For Disease Control And Prevention;Virus-Hiv;Willow;Woman;Adult Human (21+);Balance;Balance Function;Base;Black American;Computerized Data Processing;Cost;Data Processing;Facial;Health Organization;Innovate;Innovation;Innovative;Interventional Strategy;Juvenile;Juvenile Human;Meetings;Men;Men Who Have Sex With Men;Men Who Have Sex With Other Men;Men's;Prevention Service;Preventional Intervention Strategy;Product Development;Programs;Prototype;Public Health Medicine (Field);Public Health Relevance;Sex;Sex Activity;Signal Processing;Skills;Socioeconomic;Socioeconomically;Socioeconomics;Substance Use;Usability;User-Friendly

Adapting the SISTA/SiHLE/WiLLOW HIV Prevention Trilogy for Black Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) Black men who have sex with men (MSM) have been disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic. Yet, there are very few scientifically demonstrated effective HIV prevention interventions targeting Black MSM. This SBIR Phase II project will address this gap and fill an important product niche for community-based organizations, health departments and clinics serving Black MSM by creating (1) a modular program package and online program builder to support the delivery of the popular SISTA/SIHLE/WILLOW HIV prevention suite with Black MSM; (2) an interactive, computer-delivered version of the adapted program; and (3) an online forum to provide updated resources and enable practitioners to share program implementation concerns and experiences. We will also conduct a 3-arm, quasi-experimental outcome study in three states to assess the effectiveness of these programs in reducing HIV risk behaviors among Black MSM. The project offers many innovations, including the creation of the first evidence-based computer-delivered HIV prevention program specifically designed for Black MSM; the development of a modular program package and online program builder to tailor program content for different sub-populations of Black MSM; the presentation of risk reduction activities within an explicit sexual health/harm reduction framework, an approach called for by practitioners and public health officials in recent years (Goldhanner & Mayer, 2011; Grossman et al., 2011; Wolitski & Fenton, 2011); a discussion of the pros and cons of pre- exposure prophylaxis (PREP) as an HIV prevention strategy; the inclusion of "seroadaptive" risk reduction practices (Wei et al., 2011) in the outcome study to assess the wide range of harm reduction practices currently practiced by Black MSM; and an online practitioner forum. In sum, the project's combination of a modular adaptation package, online program builder, computer-delivered intervention and practitioner forum provides a model to support the cost-effective implementation of evidence-based programs on a wide range of public health issues in diver implementation contexts.

Public Health Relevance Statement:


Public Health Relevance:
Black men who have sex with men (MSM) have been disproportionately affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States, and Black MSM aged 18-29 have the highest new HIV infection rate of any group of MSM or African-Americans. This project will help reduce new HIV infections among Black MSM by (1) developing a version of the popular SISTA/SiHLE/WiLLOW HIV prevention trilogy specifically tailored for implementation with Black MSM; (2) creating a 2.5 hour long, computer-delivered version of the adapted program; and (3) conducting a quasi-experimental 3-arm trial to test the effectiveness of these programs. The project's combination of a modular adaptation package, online program builder, and computer-delivered intervention provides a model to support the cost-effective implementation of evidence-based programs to address a wide range of public health issues. The outcome study data will also further our understanding of how harm reduction strategies and computer technologies can be utilized to reduce disease risk and promote healthy behaviors more generally.

Project Terms:
Address; Adolescent; Adult; Affect; African American; age group; aged; AIDS prevention; AIDS/HIV problem; arm; base; Behavior; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.); Clinic; Communication; Communities; Computers; cost effective; Data; design; Development; Disclosure; disorder risk; Educational Curriculum; Effectiveness; Elements; Employee Strikes; Epidemic; evidence base; Evidence based intervention; Evidence based program; experience; Gays; Gender; Grant; Harm Reduction; health disparity; health organization; HIV; HIV Infections; HIV risk; HIV Seropositivity; HIV/STD; Hour; impression; Individual; innovation; interest; Intervention; Language; Life; Love; Mediation; meetings; men; men who have sex with men; Modeling; Outcome Study; Participant; Phase; Play; Prevention; Prevention program; Prevention strategy; Preventive Intervention; Program Effectiveness; programs; Prophylactic treatment; prototype; Provider; public health medicine (field); public health relevance; Race; Reporting; Research; Resource Sharing; Resources; Risk Behaviors; Risk Reduction; Role; San Francisco; Series; Services; sex; Sexual Health; Shapes; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; social stigma; Social support; Sum; Technology; Testing; therapy design; transmission process; United States; Update; usability; Visual; Woman; Work