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The Research
The Intervention The Research
The Science Behind the Package
Street Smart is a multisession, skills-building program designed to
help groups of runaway youth reduce unprotected sex, number of
sex partners, and substance
use. The program is based on social learning theory, which describes the
relationship between behavior change and a person’s beliefs
that he/she has the ability to change a behavior and that changing
that behavior will produce a specific
result.
Target Population
Runaway youth, ages 11 to 18
Intervention
The intervention consists of 8, 1-1/2 to 2 hour drop-in group sessions
delivered over a 2 to 6-week period. Sessions are held after dinner
at the runaway
shelter where the youth are staying and are led by trained counselors.
Approximately 10 youth attend each group session. During early sessions,
information on
HIV
prevention is conveyed in video and art work-groups where the youth review
and discuss commercial HIV/AIDS prevention videos and then develop their
own soap opera dramatizations, public service announcements, commercials,
and rap
songs. The majority of the sessions address improving youths’ social
skills, particularly assertiveness and coping, through exercises that teach
them to identify their emotional and behavioral reactions and unrealistic
expectations in situations with potential risk for HIV transmission. The
small group format
permits collective support for safer behaviors and behavior change to be
developed and mobilized.
In addition to the
group sessions, private sessions with a counselor are included to give
youth the opportunity to assess their own barriers to safer sex and
discuss their dysfunctional attitudes and behavior patterns. Youth also are
given access to medical and mental health care through weekly visits from
a public health nurse, visits to a community-based agency that provides
comprehensive
care, and referrals for specific individual health concerns.
Research Results
After participating in Street Smart:
- Youth reduced
their substance use and number of unprotected sex acts
- Young women
reported greater reductions in substance use and unprotected sex
than young men reported
- African American
youth reported greater reductions in substance use than youth of other
ethnic groups reported
For Details on the
Research Design
Rotheram-Borus, M. J., Koopman, C., Haignere, C., & Davies, M.
(1991). Reducing HIV sexual risk behaviors among runaway adolescents.
Journal of the American Medical Association, 266(9), 1237-1241.
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The Intervention
A Package Developed from Science
Replicating Effective Programs (REP) is a CDC-initiated project that
identifies HIV/AIDS prevention interventions with demonstrated
evidence of effectiveness.
REP supports the original researchers in developing a user-friendly package
of materials designed for prevention providers. Street Smart is one of
the REP interventions.
The Street Smart intervention package is the product of extensive collaboration
among researchers, staff from public and private agencies serving homeless
and runaway youths, and youth from diverse backgrounds. This package was
pilot-tested at community-based agencies that serve homeless
and runaway youths, where staff
and youth were instrumental in identifying key strategies to plan, implement,
and evaluate the intervention. Street Smart is meant to supplement existing
homeless
and runaway youths’ services.
Core Elements
Core elements are intervention components that must be maintained without
alteration to ensure program effectiveness. The core elements of Street
Smart include:
- Enhancing affective
and cognitive awareness, expression, and control
- Teaching HIV/AIDS risk
hierarchy and its personal application
- Identifying personal
triggers, using peer support and small group skills-building sessions
- Building
skills in problem solving, personal assertiveness, and HIV/AIDS harm
reduction
Package Contents
- Facilitator
training manual for program staff
- Workbook for participants
- Sample
social marketing and recruitment materials which may be reproduced
- Handouts
for intervention-specific educational and skills-building exercises
- Computer
diskettes containing above-mentioned materials for easy customization
- Orientation
video for program staff
View Package Contents
Intervention Orientation
Administrators from agencies adopting Street Smart attend a half-day orientation
to the intervention, which describes its theoretical framework, objectives,
and resource needs. Program staff attend a 2-day training on how to conduct
the intervention, practice group facilitation skills, and identify agency-specific
implementation strategies.
Technical Assistance
Staff from the Center of Community Health and persons at the 10 regional offices
of the National Network for Youth across the United States provide consultations
and technical assistance via telephone, mail, e-mail, and personal meetings.
Timeline for Availability
The package is available from CDC along with training on program implementation and technical assistance.
For
More Information on the Street Smart Package
To find out more about future trainings, please visit
http://effectiveinterventions.org,
e-mail
interventions@aed.org, or telephone 1-800-462-9521 or 1-202-884-8712.
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