Open AccessMass Media as an HIV-Prevention Strategy: Using Culturally Sensitive Messages to Reduce HIV-Associated Sexual Behavior of At-Risk African American Youth
Author(s) -
Daniel Rømer,
Sharon Sznitman,
Ralph J. DiClemente,
Laura F. Salazar,
Peter A. Vanable,
Michael P. Carey,
Michael Hennessy,
Larry K. Brown,
Robert F. Valois,
Bonita Stanton,
Thierry Fortune,
Ivan Juzang
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2008.155036
Subject(s) - mass media , normative , intervention (counseling) , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , population , sexual behavior , medicine , behavior change , psychology , environmental health , social psychology , family medicine , advertising , political science , psychiatry , business , law
The evidence base and theoretical frameworks for mass media HIV-prevention campaigns in the United States are not well-developed. We describe an intervention approach using culturally sensitive mass media messages to enhance protective beliefs and behavior of African American adolescents at risk for HIV. This approach exploits the potential that mass media messages have, not only to reach a large segment of the adolescent population and thereby support normative change, but also to engage the most vulnerable segments of this audience to reduce HIV-associated risk behaviors. The results from an ongoing HIV-prevention trial implemented in 2 medium-sized cities in the United States illustrate the effectiveness of this intervention approach.