Straight Talk: HIV Prevention for African-American Men: Theoretical Bases and Intervention Design, Victoria Frye et al., AIDS Education and Prevention (2012)

This article describes the process of designing Straight Talk, an HIV prevention intervention targeting African American, sexually active heterosexual men with HIV in high HIV prevalence areas of New York City. The authors note that the bulk of preventive interventions among heterosexuals focused mostly on women, drug users, or those seeking treatment for sexually transmitted infections, and often overlooked heterosexual African American communities. This is problematic because African American and Latino neighborhoods in Central Harlem and South Bronx had the largest numbers of HIV affected residents in NYC. Straight Talk seeks to address the disparities of other HIV prevention strategies for the heterosexual African American community. The intervention offers open discussions of realities in the community and the consequences of personal decision-making in a respectful, safe environment without being proscriptive. It focuses on social cognitive abilities, social structures, interpersonal relationships, and internal insights. Intervention methods are divided into four sections: an overview of HIV facts and its prevalence in impoverished neighborhoods, barriers to using condoms, strategies to practicing safe sex, and redefining social norms about fatherhood and masculinity. The article concludes that the goals of Straight Talk intervention are consistent with several recommendations from the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States and represents an important step toward reducing HIV prevalence in the African American community.