Multilevel Prevention in Culture and Context with Latino MSM

We are in the process of evaluating data of an HIV prevention program for Latino men who have sex with men (MSM) who do not self-identify as gay. The project relies on an established community collaborative relationship between CAPS and the City of Berkeley, CA AIDS Office, Department of Public Health. To evaluate the program we used both a survey and qualitative questions. The goals for this project are to:

• Design a program in dialogue with the target community of Latino MSM who do not self-identify as. gay to ensure a culturally sensitive, multi-level approach that will address critical aspects of HIV prevention both for the individual and for the environment of public places where sex takes place.
• Implement a 2-month program for the individual by providing multiple, one-on-one intensive. conversations about the participant’s social support system. The conversations were recorded and played back at the second sessions to help participants assess what kinds of changes they wanted to make in their lives to ensure their health and safe behaviors. The third session assessed how the participant’s plan for change worked and developed strategies for ways to ensure success.
• Conduct an evaluation of the program by administering a survey to 100 men just prior to their. participation in the program and a follow-up interview three months after the last intervention session.
• Throughout the developmental phase of the intervention, we conducted qualitative interviews to. evaluate the process of crafting an intervention and continued conducting interviews through the implementation stages. All providers were interviewed at multiple junctures of the developmental and implementation phases.