The following are courses included in the Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Interventions (DEBI) compendium that the CA PTC provides training for. All interventions support High Impact Intervention (HIP) by using interventions with demonstrated potential to reduce new infections to yield a major impact on the HIV epidemic.
For more detailed information on these and other courses including training schedule and registration please visit www.effectiveinterventions.org, or call (800)462-9521.
You may also visit our Upcoming Classes page to see if there are trainings scheduled near you.
Anti-Retroviral Treatment and Access to Services (ARTAS)
Anti-Retroviral Treatment and Access to Services (ARTAS) is an individual-level, multi-session, time-limited intervention with the goal of linking recently diagnosed persons with HIV to medical care soon after receiving their positive test result. ARTAS is based on the Strengths-based Case Management (SBCM) model, which is rooted in Social Cognitive Theory (particularly self-efficacy) and Humanistic Psychology. SBCM is a model that encourages the client to identify and use personal strengths; create goals for himself/herself; and establish an effective, working relationship with the Linkage Coordinator (LC).
CLEAR
Choosing Life! Empowerment! Action! Results! is an evidence-based, health promotion intervention for males and females ages 16 and older living with HIV/AIDS or at high risk for HIV. CLEAR uses one-on-one cognitive-behavioral techniques to assist clients in changing their behaviors around issues like sexual risk, substance abuse, treatment adherence, stigma, disclosure and health/self-care. CLEAR enables prevention counselors to individually tailor the intervention to address the unique needs of each client.
CLEAR consists of 5 core skill sessions, 21 menu sessions, and a wrap-up session. The core skill sessions teach the essential cognitive and behavioral skills of the program. Within these core skill sessions, clients develop a personal life goal and an individual prevention plan which directs the focus and selection of subsequent menu sessions.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) guidelines on Comprehensive Risk Counseling and Services (CRCS), formerly known as Prevention Case Management (PCM), identify CLEAR as a structured intervention that may be integrated into CRCS programs.
d-up:Defend Yourself!
d-up: Defend Yourself! is a community-level intervention designed for and developed by Black men who have sex with men (MSM). d-up! is designed to promote social norms of condom use and assist Black MSM to recognize and handle risk related racial and sexual bias.
The d-up! intervention mantra is: Brothers Keeping Brothers Safe. Brothers Keeping Brothers Safe refers to black MSM influencing one another to practice safer sex and stop transmission. When the social norm is shifted in a social network of black MSM the behavior of every individual in the network is impacted. Brothers Keeping Brothers Safe indicates that brothers are the most effective and far-reaching agents of behavior change for themselves that exists in the world. d-up! finds and enlists opinion leaders whose advice is respected and trusted by their peers. These opinion leaders are trained to change risky sexual norms of their friends and acquaintances in their own social networks. d-up! opinion leaders are prepared to deliver messages that counter racial and sexual biases directed toward Black MSM in society and to promote condom use among Black MSM.
Healthy Relationships
This four-day course is a training of facilitators for Healthy Relationships, a 5-session small-group intervention for men and women living with HIV/AIDS. It is based on Social Cognitive Theory and, as such, focuses on the development of skills, building self-efficacy, and positive expectations about new behaviors through modeling behaviors and practicing new skills. Knowing that the lives of persons living with HIV/AIDS are stressful, the intervention focuses on building skills to reduce stress in three life areas: disclosure of HIV status to family and friends, disclosure to sex or needle sharing partners, and safer sexual behaviors. This is not a disclosure intervention - the skills that are developed are decision-making and problem-solving skills that enable the participants to make informed and safe decisions about disclosure and behaviors. In each of the three life areas, a series of exercises is repeated to create and develop the decision-making and problem-solving skills. The primary exercise is role-playing based on scenarios that are established by viewing short clips from popular movies. The intervention is highly adaptable, based on the choice of movie clips, and is intended to create a positive, engaging, and creative atmosphere.
Many Men, Many Voices (MMMV)
MMMV is a six- or seven-session, group level STD/HIV prevention intervention for gay men of color. The intervention addresses behavioral influencing factors specific to gay men of color, including cultural/social norms, sexual relationship dynamics, and the social influences of racism and homophobia. MMMV is designed to be facilitated by a peer in groups of 6-12 clients. The training for this intervention is a four-day course where participants will experience the actual intervention and Level 2 is a Training of Facilitators. Anyone interested in implementing MMMV must attend both Level 1 and 2. The sessions are highly experiential, incorporating group exercises, behavioral skills practice, group discussions, and role play.
Nia
Nia is a six hour, two to four session, video-based, small group level intervention. The goals of this intervention are to educate African American men about HIV/AIDS and its effect on their community, bring groups of men together, increase motivation to reduce risks, and help men learn new skills to protect themselves and others by promoting condom use and increasing intentions to use condoms. Nia is based on the Information-Motivational-Behavioral Skills (IMB). The IMB model assumes that people need information, motivation, and behavioral skills to adopt preventive behaviors. The target population for Nia is African American men (ages 18 and over) who have sex with women. For more information.
Partnership for Health: Intervention 1 day
Partnership for Health (PfH) uses message framing, repetition, and reinforcement during patient visits to increase HIV positive patients' knowledge, skills, and motivations to practice safer sex. The program is designed to improve patientprovider communication about safer sex, disclosure of HIV serostatus, and HIV prevention. Implementation of PfH includes development of clinic and staff "buy-in" and training.
Personalized Cognitive Counseling (PCC)
Personalized Cognitive Counseling (PCC) is an individual-level, single session counseling intervention designed to reduce unprotected anal intercourse (UAI) among men who have sex with men (MSM) who are repeat testers for HIV. PCC focuses on the person's self-justifications (thoughts, attitudes and beliefs) he uses when deciding whether or not to engage in high risk sexual behavior. PCC is a 30 to 50 minutes intervention conducted as a component of Counseling, Testing, and Referral Service (CTRS) for MSM who meet the screening criteria.
PCC targets MSM who previously tested for HIV, are HIV-negative, and had UAI since their last test with a male who was not their primary partner, and that partner's serostatus was positive or unknown.
Popular Opinion Leader (POL)
This community-level intervention involves identifying, enlisting, and training key opinion leaders to encourage safer sexual norms and behaviors within their social networks through risk-reduction conversations.
Project START
Project START is an individual-level, multi-session intervention for people being released from a correctional facility and returning to the community. It is based on the conceptual framework of Incremental Risk Reduction, and focuses on increasing clients' awareness of their HIV,STI, and Hepatitis risk behaviors after release and providing them with tools and resources to reduce their risk.
Agency staff attending this skills-based training will learn how to conduct the intervention, practice intervention delivery skills, and identify agency-specific implementation strategies. Therefore, an agency may submit up to two individual applications for staff who may be directly involved in implementing Project START.
All program staff who will have primary responsibility for conducting the Project START individual sessions, i.e., counselors/case managers, must attend a Project START training of facilitators (TOF). In addition, program supervisors who oversee the intervention and supervise counselors/case manager are also encouraged to attend the training.
PROMISE
Peers Reaching Out and Modeling Intervention Strategies: A Community-Level STD/HIV Behavioral Intervention (Available in SpanishPeers Reaching Out and Modeling Intervention Strategies: This community-level intervention is based on several behavior change theories. A community assessment process is conducted, peer advocates are recruited and trained from the target population, role model stories are written from interviews with the target population, and these stories are distributed along with other risk reduction materials to target audiences to help people move toward safer sex or risk reduction practices.
RESPECT (Available in Spanish)
RESPECT is the first individual level intervention to be added to the Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Interventions (DEBI). The RESPECT intervention utilizes a client-focused, interactive HIV risk reduction counseling model based on Project RESPECT.
RESPECT is designed to support risk reduction behaviors by increasing the client’s perception of his/her personal risks and by emphasizing incremental risk-reduction strategies. Core elements of the intervention are to conduct one-on-one counseling using the RESPECT protocol, utilize a “teachable moment” to motivate clients to change risk-taking behaviors, explore circumstances and context of a recent risk behavior to increase perception of susceptibility, negotiate an achievable step which supports the larger risk reduction goal, and implement and maintain quality assurance procedures. The intervention uses a structured protocol that guides the provider/counselor throughout the sessions. This protocol also helps address barriers to risk reduction and validate previous attempts made by the client.
RESPECT is an interactive counseling model that can be easily incorporated into many existing programs, such as comprehensive risk counseling services (CRCS), early intervention programs, rapid or traditional HIV counseling and testing programs, and STD, HIV, or family planning clinics, where discussion of client risk and risk reduction strategies occur.
VOICES/VOCES (Available in Spanish)
This two-day course teaches facilitation skills for a group-level, single-session video-based intervention designed to increase condom use among heterosexual African American and Latino men and women who visit STD clinics. Participants, grouped by gender and ethnicity, view an English or Spanish video on HIV risk behaviors and condom use and take part in a facilitated discussion. Health educators convene groups of 4-8 clinic patients in a room that allows privacy for discussions. Groups are gender-and-ethnic specific, so that participants can develop prevention strategies appropriate for their culture. Information on HIV risk behavior and condom use is delivered by videos, facilitated group discussion, and a poster board presenting features of various condom brands in English and Spanish. Two culturally specific videos are used: one for African- American participants and a bilingual video for Latinos. Skills in condom use and negotiation are modeled in the videos, then role-played and practiced by participants during the discussion that follows. At the end of the single, 45-minute session, participants are given samples of the types of condoms they have identified as best meeting their needs.