Examination of an Interventionist-Led HIV Intervention Among Criminal Justice-Involved Female Prisoners

• NCJ Number: 228879
• Journal: Journal of Experimental Criminology Volume: 5 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2009 Pages: 245-272
• Author(s): Jennifer R. Havens; Carl G. Leukefeld; Carrie B. Oser; Michele Staton-Tindall; Hannah K. Knudsen; Jennifer Mooney; Linda Frisman; Jamieson L. Duvall; Jennifer G. Clarke; Hilary L. Surratt; James A. Inciardi
• Date Published: September 2009
• Length: 28 pages
• Contract Number(s): U01-DA-016205
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institutes of Health; National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: Israel

Annotation

This study examined the implementation of the phase III trial of a randomized intervention intended to reduce the risk behaviors related to infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among incarcerated women in four U.S. States: Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, and Rhode Island.

Abstract

The study, entitled the Reducing Risky Relationships for HIV (RRR-HIV), found that the randomized phase III trial had been successfully implemented across study sites. In addition, there has been a high degree of adherence to the RRR-HIV protocol, which is essential for such interventions. There were few differences in protocol implementation among the sties, which suggests that all sites followed the specified protocol. Participants' high interest, involvement/engagement, and understanding of the session materials also indicate successful implementation of the RRR-HIV protocol. Findings from the examination of the implementation measures show that the essential components of the intervention were presented to the participants. The success of the implementation of the RRR-HIV shows the importance of refining the protocol within the target population prior to implementation of the study in a large sample. The continued training and clinical supervision of the interventionists was also a significant factor in the successful implementation. The intervention consists of five interventionist-led prison-based group sessions and a sixth individual community-based session. Data on adherence, implementation, acceptability, and fidelity of the intervention were obtained from forms completed by both the interventionist and participant after the five prison-based sessions. Data from the sixth session were collected by the interventionist. Of the 363 women recruited to date, 173 (47.6 percent) have been randomly allocated to the experimental RRR intervention. Implementation measures were available for 162 (93.6 percent) of the women. 4 figures, 3 tables, and 30 references