Castellanos D, Candelario N, Faentes R; National HIV Prevention Conference (1999 : Atlanta, Ga.).
Abstr Search Tools 1999 Natl HIV Prev Conf Natl HIV Prev Conf 1999 Atlanta Ga. 1999 Aug 29-Sep 1; (abstract no. 672).
Gay Men's Health Crisis, New York, NY. Fax: (212) 367-1370. E-mail: danielc@gmhc.org.
ISSUE: As one of the most impacted groups by HIV in the United States, immigrant Latino gay and bisexual men need culturally appropriate prevention programs. PROJECT: New York City has 17% of the AIDS cases in the US, out of them, 30% are among Latinos. Proyecto P.A.P.I., (Poder, Apoyo, Prevencion e Identidad - "Power, Support, Prevention, and Identity") is a volunteer-based, harm reduction and client- centered program. Some strategies include; expanding HIV prevention to incorporate sex education; addressing issues of identity and acculturation; consciously exploring the overlapping of volunteer's and client's roles; incorporating volunteers in most of the development steps; and using parallel processing techniques during volunteer trainings. This project provides individual and group experiences for clients and volunteers. Our services provide different degrees of involvement. These include: one-session informational workshops, one-on-one counseling, three- session psycho-educational workshops, bi-weekly discussion groups, HIV testing, and ear-point acupuncture treatment. Volunteer opportunities include: weekly drop-in volunteer meetings, social events, outreach and counseling activities, peer education trainings, supervision, educational materials development, and HIV testing triage. RESULTS: At the end of the first year, over 900 group and individual interventions have been conducted. 626 Latino gay men have signed up to receive information on a regular basis. Volunteer participation in the program has steadily increased. 135 men enrolled in the program as volunteers; 53 of these have been trained and have worked as outreach workers; 15 of these participate in a leadership retreat; 4 of these are in the process of becoming peer counselors. Volunteer participation in program planning has also increased. HIV testing and Hep B vaccination has been particularly promoted among volunteers. One-fourth of volunteers (18) have tested for HIV while participating in the program. LESSONS LEARNED: 1) Using socio-cultural norms about community, family and friendship gets clients and volunteers consciously involved in HIV preventions efforts for others and for themselves. 2) Cultural notions and values regal-ding counseling, therapy, volunteering need to be reviewed within the context of any prevention effort. 3) Integrating sexual identity and practices into discussions around religion, isolation, acculturation, gender, and cultural identity increases participation. 4) HIV prevention must address the cultural meanings of specific sexual practices and move from latex education to sex education. 5) Changing from "deficiency" models to one of self-regulation based on harm reduction guidelines provides individuals with cognitive tools to develop reachable goals.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- Acculturation
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
- Bisexuality
- Demography
- Gender Identity
- HIV
- HIV Infections
- HIV Seropositivity
- Hispanic Americans
- Homosexuality
- Homosexuality, Male
- Humans
- Male
- New York City
- Sex Education
- United States
- Voluntary Workers
- education
- organization & administration
- prevention & control
Other ID:
UI: 102187875
From Meeting Abstracts