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  • Title: Florida teenagers learn about AIDS, teach others.
    Journal: Netw Res Triangle Park N C; 1993 May; 13(4):12-5. PubMed ID: 12344869.
    Abstract:
    1 of every 7 people living in one 5-block area of Belle Glade, Florida, is seropositive for HIV. The town has a population of 17,000 which almost doubles during harvest season as migrant workers arrive to cut cane or harvest vegetables. 97% of HIV cases are among Blacks and people from the Caribbean; transmission is mostly through heterosexual intercourse; and about 25% of infections are among children born to HIV-infected mothers or among adolescents. The nearest movie theater or shopping mall in which adolescents might be amused lies 45 minutes away by buses which do not run on weekends. Belle Glade does not even have a recreation center. Drug use, prostitution, gang membership, and unprotected sexual intercourse are therefore commonly practiced. Providing a constructive alternative, the Health Education Research Team (HEART) peer education project was implemented with the support of the American Foundation for AIDS Research and Family Health International to reduce risky sex behavior among these adolescents aged 13-18. The project assumes that youth will listen to their peers and trains teens to teach other teens about HIV prevention. Teenage participants advance over the levels of trainee, educator, and mentor. 51 had been recruited into the program since it began in fall 1992; 15 had reached the educator level by early 1993. Participants meet twice weekly for formal sessions at the health center which tend to be fun and innovative learning sessions complemented by work in training manuals and periodic tests. Participants also congregate informally at a common youth hangout. More than working to prevent the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, HEART fosters the development of self-esteem, leadership, and communication skills. The program operates a condom distribution system and referral service for treatment which distributed more than 22,000 free condoms over 4 months in late 1992. Understanding their success in being culturally sensitive and reaching out to the community, organizers are considering implementing similar programs in at-risk populations in New York and Texas.
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