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January 2007 Monthly Monitor
Advocates for Youth's Youth of Color Initiative
Feature: Peer Education and Youth-Adult Partnerships
Research suggests that people are more likely to hear and personalize messages, and thus to change their attitudes and behaviors, if they believe the messenger is similar to them and faces the same concerns and pressures.[1,2] Numerous studies have demonstrated that their peers influence their health behaviors--not only in regard to sexuality but also in regard to violence and substance use more than any other group.[3] Peer education draws on the credibility that young people have with their peers, leverages the power of role modeling, and provides flexibility in meeting the diverse needs of today's youth. Peer education can support young people in developing positive group norms and in making healthy decisions about sex.[4]
Peer education programs are enhanced by effective youth-adult partnerships. Youth-adult partnerships arise from the conviction that young people have a right to participate in developing the programs that will serve them and a right to have a voice in shaping the policies that will affect them. In addition, advocates of youth-adult partnerships argue that programs are more sustainable and effective when youth are partners in their design, development, and implementation. Proponents also assert that evaluation results are more honest and realistic when youth assist in gathering and providing the data on which evaluation is based.
For more information on peer education and youth-adult partnerships, please click here.
References
- Sloane BC, Zimmer CG. The power of peer health education. Journal of American College Health 1993; 41:241-245.
- Milburn K. A critical review of peer education with young people with special reference to sexual health. Health Education Research 1995; 10:407-420.
- National Hemophilia Foundation. Peer-to-Peer Health Education Programs for Youth: Their Impact on Comprehensive Health Education. New York: The Foundation, 1994.
- DiClemente RJ. Confronting the challenge of AIDS among adolescents: directions for future research. Journal of Adolescent Research 1993; 8:156-166.
Capacity Building & Professional Development
Women & HIV Seminar: "Current Issues, Treatments, Dilemmas and Best Practice Approaches to Care" will be held in Annapolis, MD on January 19, 2007.
The Gay Family Foundation is proud to sponsor this seminar that highlights the growing impact that the HIV/AIDS epidemic is having on women in the United States and the Baltimore Eligible Metropolitan Area (EMA). (An EMA is one which receives special assistance under the CARE Act because of very high rates of HIV/AIDS.)
This seminar examines the various facets of HIV/AIDS; provides participants with a frame of reference and a body of material that allows them to fully explore the biological and social approaches to HIV/AIDS treatment and care for women. By the conclusion of the seminar, service providers in the Baltimore EMA will be able to appropriately treat women, employing up-to-date, best practice, state of the art treatment protocols.
To RSVP please contact Valerie Febres at Valerie@gffonline.org or 410-209-2412 ext. 01.
2007 National African American MSM Leadership Conference on HIV/AIDS will be held in
Charlotte, NC on January 25-28, 2007.
The 2007 NAAMSMLC on HIV/AIDS will feature guest speakers, exhibitors, workshops, institutes, and poster sessions specifically themed around issues relating to the African American MSM community. Invited to participate are community-based organizations providing HIV services, capacity building assistance providers, community co-chairs, community planning leaders, staff from health department HIV prevention programs, other federal and national partner agencies involved in HIV prevention and care, and community leaders. There is no deadline for registration, but the fee does increase as the conference approaches. Please visit http://www.naesmonline.org/Conference.htm for more information.
Rural Center for HIV/STD Prevention is holding its national conference on HIV/STD Prevention in Rural Communities: Sharing Successful Strategies V in Bloomington, IN from April 5-7, 2007. For more information, please visit http://www.indiana.edu/~aids/index.html
The Minority Women's Health Summit will be held in Washington DC August 23-26, 2007. The theme of the conference is "Addressing Disparities, Acknowledging Resilience, Providing Actions for Success." This conference is the third conference (1997, 2004) that addresses the unique health issues experienced by women who reflect disparities in the US population. The goal of this conference is to focus on the unique and often unrecognized threats to health status experienced by women of color, by 1) building on the knowledge gained in the previous conferences and uncovering the distinct health issues that women face daily as they carry out their activities for themselves and their families; 2) acknowledging the powerful women who are community leaders and survivors of disparate conditions; and 3) building on the successful models of care and the innate sense of survival that exists within all populations.
The conference will provide tools that can be implemented by all participants in their communities, with the overarching message of hope and resilience.
For more information please contact Adrienne Smith, 202-690-5884, adrienne.smith@hhs.gov , Frances E. Ashe-Goins, 202-690-6373, frances.ashe-goins@hhs.gov or visit http://www.4woman.gov/mwhs/
Funding Opportunities
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is accepting grant applications for programs that support immigrants and refugees and provide the tools they need to improve and maintain their health. The Foundation is seeking to fund community-based projects that: 1) address how health and social systems can engage immigrants and 2) develop strategies that overcome barriers that immigrants and refugees face when trying to access health and social services.
Applicants may be either public entities or nonprofit organizations that have 501(c) 3 status. Eight to ten grants up to $300,000 over three years will be awarded and the deadline is January 15, 2007.
For complete program information and program guidelines, please visit: http://www.rwjf.org/applications/solicited/cfp.jsp?ID=19480
Announcements
Visit http://www.nmac.org and check out The National Minority AIDS Council's new left-hand navigation bar - just click on a subject and find what you need instantly.
Also visit the site's revamped HIV/AIDS news section at http://www.nmac.org/news___events/hiv_aids_news/1631.cfm which includes links to press about NMAC's new report, African Americans, Health Disparities and HIV and AIDS: Recommendations for Confronting the Epidemic in Black America, by Robert E. Fullilove, Ed.D., Associate Dean for Community and Minority Affairs and Professor at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.
You may download a PDF of the report by visiting http://www.nmac.org/public_policy/4616.cfm A limited number of hardcopies also are available; please submit your requests to communications@nmac.org.
http://www.aids.gov is now the preferred information gateway for U.S. government domestic HIV/AIDS information and resources. Its goal is to ease access to the vast repository of information on Federal HIV/AIDS prevention, testing, treatment, and research programs, policies, and resources. Visit today!
Adult Male Circumcision Significantly Reduces Risk of Acquiring HIV: The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced an early end to two clinical trials of adult male circumcision because an interim review of trial data revealed that medically performed circumcision significantly reduces a man's risk of acquiring HIV through heterosexual intercourse. The trial in Kisumu, Kenya, of 2,784 HIV-negative men showed a 53 percent reduction of HIV acquisition in circumcised men relative to uncircumcised men, while a trial of 4,996 HIV-negative men in Rakai, Uganda, showed that HIV acquisition was reduced by 48 percent in circumcised men. These studies have not been published. However, you may read about them by visiting http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/dec2006/niaid-13.htm
You can help Advocates for Youth with a contribution today. To donate, visit http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/about/donatetoday.htm
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