Podcasting HIV Prevention Within African American Communities

Given the continued impact of HIV among African Americans, there is still an urgent need to expand prevention efforts and HIV testing in African American communities. Heterosexual individuals may acquire and spread infection directly through heterosexual contact, bi-sexual sexual contact, and/or indirectly through homosexual sexual contact. Evidence-based interventions (EBIs) have been shown to increase consistent condom use, decrease sexual partners, and increase HIV testing; however, traditionally-implemented EBIs may not be accessible to communities given the resources and expertise needed to implement them. This project seeks to: 1) assess feasibility for the development of two theory- based, video podcast-delivered, HIV prevention interventions for self-identified heterosexual African American males and females; and 2) evaluate their feasibility \& effectiveness (pilot). The investigators will develop the two (male and female) video podcasts that maintain the theoretical integrity of two established Centers for Disease Control evidence-based behavioral HIV prevention interventions. The assessment phase will consist of leveraging African American community stakeholders and experts in the development of the podcast content. The effectiveness phase will consist of broadcasting the podcasts for participants and evaluating psychosocial factors related to HIV prevention at 1 and 3 month follow-ups. This intervention is the first of its kind and has the potential to increase HIV protective behaviors in this hard-to-reach and medically underserved population. The resulting interventions are expected to be easily disseminated throughout the African American communities, with the potential to reduce HIV- related disparities within this population. This study will impact and advance the field by demonstrating feasibility and effectiveness for a novel mode of intervention engagement within HIV prevention science, serve as valuable preliminary data for a larger R01 trial, a