Bringing It Home: Design and Implementation of an HIV/STD Intervention for Women Visiting Incarcerated Men

• NCJ Number: 223825
• Journal: AIDS Education and Prevention Volume: 20 Issue: 4 Dated: August 2008 Pages: 285-300
• Author(s): Olga Grinstead; Megan Comfort; Kathleen McCartney; Kimberly Koester; Tor Neilands
• Date Published: August 2008
• Length: 16 pages
• Grant Number(s): R01 1NR08324-01
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute for Nursing Research
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article describes the development and implementation of a multicomponent HIV prevention intervention for women with incarcerated partners, and presents qualitative data from women who participated as peer educators in the intervention.

Abstract

The authors found peer education to be a feasible way of reaching women with incarcerated partners, who can experience isolation as a result of stigma, poverty, and others factors and who are stressed by the demands on their time. In addition, program feasibility findings also show that women with incarcerated partners are at risk for HIV infection, because of low rates of condom use and HIV testing along with a lack of information about prison-related HIV risks. A multicomponent intervention, the Health Options Mean Empowerment (HOME) Project was created in an effort to appeal to women’s interest beyond HIV and to focus on women’s lives away from the prison in their homes and communities, with an allusion to their incarcerated loved one eventually returning home. The intervention took place for 12 months (from February 2005 through January 2006). The HOME project took place at a center for prison visitors just outside the gates of a northern California prison. The process of developing and implementing this program are further discussed in the first part of this article. Figure, tables, references