Welcome to the AIDS Community Demonstration Projects website! This site has been designed primarily for HIV prevention community planning groups and program planners in state and local health departments, community-based organizations, and other agencies. It provides valuable information about a peer outreach model that was successful in motivating adoption of reduced risk practices among several populations.

The CDC AIDS Community Demonstration Projects (ACDP) was a 5-year study (1989 - 1994) that evaluated the impact of a community-level HIV prevention intervention. The goal of the intervention was to promote consistent condom and bleach use among injection drug users, female sex partners of injection drug users, female commercial sex workers, at-risk youth, and non-gay-identified men who have sex with men. The ACDP study was conducted in Dallas, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Long Beach, California; New York, New York; and Seattle, Washington. Research teams in these cities collaborated with the CDC and external consultants to develop the intervention.

The ACDP intervention was based on the stages-of-change model, which recognizes that behavior change is a process and takes time. The intervention was also based on an integrated model of behavior change that provided a foundation for the intervention design and evaluation. The intervention had three key components:

• Peer Volunteer Networks: Community members were mobilized to distribute and verbally reinforce prevention materials among their peers.
• Role Model Stories: "Small media" materials were developed for distribution; these featured theory-based prevention messages drawn from the real-life experiences of community members.
• Environmental Facilitation: Condoms and bleach kits were made readily available to community members.

The ACDP intervention was evaluated over a 3-year period using a quasi-experimental design with 10 matched intervention and comparison communities. A total of 15,205 field interviews were conducted in these areas in order to assess sexual and drug injection practices. The data indicated that:

• Near the end of the intervention, 54% of target population members had received ACDP role model stories [exposure graph].
• Overall, individuals in the intervention communities showed more movement toward consistent condom use with main and non-main partners, as well as increased condom carrying, than did individuals in the comparison communities.
• Individuals who were directly exposed to the intervention were more likely to carry condoms and had higher stage-of-change scores for bleach use and condom use with main and non-main partners.

For a detailed discussion of the design of the study and its findings, please refer to the article "Community-level HIV intervention in 5 cities: Final outcome data from the CDC AIDS Community Demonstration Projects" in the March 1999 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

The ACDP intervention is a useful strategy for reaching at-risk community members who may not be reached in other settings. Community-based organizations and health departments are encouraged to explore this site to learn more about the ACDP intervention. You'll see examples of the materials that were used in the study communities and get some brief tips on how the intervention was done. We've included a list of publications and information about training and a technical assistance document that can provide more details about the intervention and help you get started.