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Youth AIDS Prevention Project

An Evidence-Based Practice

This practice has been Archived and is no longer maintained.

Description

The Youth AIDS Prevention Project (YAPP) was a research program designed to address the issue of high rate of HIV infection among African-American adolescents in Chicago, Illinois. YAPP was implemented in middle schools in the Chicago metropolitan areas that met the following criteria: low income level, high rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and teen pregnancies, large school dropout rates, and low reading scores. Schools in the neighborhood with such characteristics were likely to be at greatest risk for high prevalence of HIV infection and transmission, and therefore were selected for the study.

YAPP was a two-year intervention program, spanning the 1991-1992 to 1992-1993 school years, primarily targeted toward seventh and eighth grade African-American students. It combined lectures with social skill building, group activities and parent support to increase student’s knowledge, attitude and intention toward HIV/AIDS, STD transmission and pregnancy. YAPP also promoted adoption of healthy sexual behavior such as condom use. The social cognitive theory and social influences model of behavioral change were the foundation in developing the curriculum. Trained health educators delivered the curriculum in 15 sessions over a three-week period.

Goal / Mission

The goal of YAPP was to increase awareness of risky sexual behaviors and to reduce the risk of HIV and STD infection associated with such behaviors.

Results / Accomplishments

Ten school districts receiving the comprehensive program were compared to five control school districts that received only basic HIV/ AIDS education. At the end of the intervention, students in the program were reported to show higher protective behavior compared to the control students: the YAPP group reported higher condoms use with foam (nanoxynol-9) in the past 12 months (24.3%) than control group (14.5%) (p<0.01). Among students who reported to have sexual intercourse in the past 30 days, YAPP students reported statistically higher use of condoms with foam than the control group (OR: 2.46; p<0.1).

When assessed for future protective behavior, YAPP students’ intention to use condoms was significantly higher than control students (OR: 3.36; p<0.001). Male students were more likely to use condom with foam than female students over the next 12 months (OR: 3.36; p<0.01). The study suggested that a school-based comprehensive sexual education program can make a positive impact on awareness, attitude and behavior change in protective sexual behaviors among adolescents.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
University of Illinois, Chicago
Primary Contact
Susan R. Levy, PhD
Institute for Health Research and Policy
University of Illinois at Chicago (MC 275)
418 Westside Research Office Bldg.
1747 West Roosevelt Road
Chicago, IL 60608
312-996-1167
slevy@uic.edu
http://www.ihrp.uic.edu/
Topics
Health / Adolescent Health
Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases
Organization(s)
University of Illinois, Chicago
Source
Urban Institute
Date of publication
Apr 1995
Date of implementation
1991
Geographic Type
Urban
Location
Chicago
For more details
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1746-...
http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/TeenRiskTaking_2....
Target Audience
Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

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An Evidence-Based Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures showing improvement in the outcome(s) of interest after the implementation of the program (i.e. increase in smoking cessation, not just the delivery of a smoking cessation program). The outcome measure(s) is/are compared at relevant time periods before and after the intervention or program implementation. Alternatively, the evaluation study compares the outcome(s) between an intervention group and an appropriate control group.
  3. The study is of peer-review quality and presents numbers in a scientific manner; measurements of precision and reliability are included (e.g. confidence intervals, standard errors), results from statistical tests show a significant difference or change in the outcome measure(s), and relevant point estimates and p-values are presented. Note: if the results from an evaluation of a program are presented in a scientific manner and the outcome measure is improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant, the practice is classified as effective and not evidence-based.
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