Paper
Friday, 21 July 2006
This presentation is part of : Patient, Staff, and Family Education Initiatives
From SISTA to WOMAN: Adapting an HIV Prevention Curriculum for Single Older African American Woman
Judith B. Cornelius, DNSc, RN, Adult Health Nursing, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA and Sara H. LeGrand, MS, College of Health and Human Services, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA.
Learning Objective #1: identify the receptiveness of single older African American women to the HIV risk reduction components of the SISTA curriculum.
Learning Objective #2: discuss how the SISTA curriculum was adapted and modified for single older African American women.
Background: While men who have sex with men make up the largest group of AIDS cases in the over 50 population, the number of older women infected heterosexually has been rising at a rate higher than any other group. Older African American women who have been married may become single again through divorce, death of a spouse, or separation at rates higher than men. Newly single older African-American women may share partners with other women as they begin to date again. As these women enter menopause, they often cease to use many methods of preventing pregnancy that are also effective against transmission of HIV. Many have never considered that they needed protection from HIV and are generally less aware of how to protect themselves against the virus. Objectives: The broad objective of this research was to design an HIV prevention intervention for single, older African American women (50 years of age and older)by adapting the Sisters Informing Sisters on Topics about AIDS (SISTA) HIV prevention intervention curriculum designed for use with younger women. Methods: Thirty ( N = 30) single older African American women from three churches in North Carolina were recruited to participate in focus group sessions to inform how the SISTA curriculum could be adapted and modified for older women. Results: The women were receptive to the SISTA curriculum and provided modifications used to inform the design of an age-specific, culturally-specific, theory-driven HIV risk reduction program for older women. Implications: Based on the focus group findings, Woman, a safer sex risk reduction HIV prevention intervention for older women, will be pilot tested for effectiveness in future research with this age group.

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