HIV/AIDS Program
What works in HIV prevention education?
A comprehensive approach including accessible and improved health services, improved socioeconomic conditions and quality education has the most promise of controlling HIV/STD in adolescents. Better diagnostic, treatment, and counseling services can enhance prevention efforts. Attention to improving overall health behavior, school performance, home and family life, and peer choice, for example, would be valuable.
Educational programs designed to increase adolescent self-efficacy in practicing HIV/STD prevention and risk reduction are an important key to overall control efforts. Schools, youth-serving organizations, and minority organizations must conduct HIV/STD prevention programs. Special attempts should be made to reach out-of-school youth and youth in high-risk situations, such as runaway, migrant, incarcerated and homeless adolescents. HIV and STD prevention messages should be combined into one program.
Research on specific, school adolescent HIV/STD and sexuality education programs have shown positive results, such as delaying onset of coitus, increasing the use of protection against HIV/STD and pregnancy, and reducing the frequency and number of sex partners. Research studies of sexuality and HIV/STD education programs revealed that such programs do not hasten the start of coitus in adolescents. The successful programs (1) had a specific focus on reducing specific sexual risk-taking behaviors, (2) emphasized the modeling and practice of prevention and risk reduction skills, (3) reinforced values and group norms against unprotected sex, and (4) discussed social pressures to have unprotected sexual activity.
The U.S. National Commission on AIDS recently made several recommendations concerning educational approaches for HIV prevention in adolescents, which are also applicable to a combined HIV/STD education program.
- HIV prevention programs should include information, examination of values and attitudes, skill building such as decision-making, negotiation, and refusal, and access to health care and social services.
- School-based HIV education should be presented as part of a comprehensive health science education curriculum that begins in elementary school, includes sexuality education and teaches general prevention skills.
- Schools and other youth-serving institutions should select curricula and teaching strategies that have been shown to be effective by evaluation.
- Parents and young people should be involved in the development of prevention programs.
- HIV prevention programs must be culturally and specific population sensitive, developmentally appropriate, nonjudgmental in approach, repeated, sustained over time, and complemented with efforts to change behavioral norms and to empower individuals.
- Utilizing peers as educators can be valuable if combined with other approaches in a comprehensive program.
- Prevention efforts limited to instilling fear or that omit important information will not facilitate wise health behavior or sustain risk reduction.
- Abstinence messages, such as postponing sexual activity, should be included, and adolescents that choose abstinence should be supported.
- Information and skill enhancement about methods of HIV/STD prevention other than abstinence, such as use of condoms, should be included. This information is needed immediately by the sexually active youth and by some who will be active in the future.
- Educational strategies dealing with prevention must be dealt with in a manner acceptable to the community. However, withholding complete prevention information can place adolescents at risk for HIV/STD.
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related sites
Health Educators homepage
 Information for health providers including continuing education, downloadable materials, posters, and more.
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 STD Fact Sheets Detailed summaries about chlamydia, herpes, gonorrhea, syphilis, and more.
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 Family Life and Sexual Health curriculum F.L.A.S.H. lesson plans help educators to address such issues as physical development, promotion of sexual health, prevention of disease, affection, interpersonal relationships, body image, and gender roles.
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