Expanding Workplace HIV/AIDS Prevention Activities for a Highly Mobile Population

Published in August 2003, this 50-page study reveals that peer HIV/AIDS education is an effective and affordable way to reach highly mobile and migrant workers.

The study involved assigning participants to either an Health Communicator (HC) or a Peer Education (PE) intervention programme. The HC educators were college-educated social workers and the PE educators were construction workers themselves. Research concerns included the impact young, dedicated, social workers (half were female) could have on a largely male construction worker population versus the concerns about whether construction workers could be capable educators and could be motivated to "stick with the programme".

In conclusion, findings about the impact of the programme on workers indicated that the peer education programme reached a higher proportion of the workers than the health communicator programme. "There were also greater improvements in such impact variables as knowledge on where to get a condom and support for risk reduction norms, and greater declines in stigmatizing attitudes toward people living with HIV and AIDS. Evidence also suggests a diffusion effect in the PE intervention sites, given that workers at the PE sites who were not directly exposed to PE activities also reported positive change in HIV-related knowledge."

Key Findings

• PEs contacted more workers and were better at distributing condoms than HCs.
• Although turnover among both groups was a problem, PEs had better retention rates than HCs, and PEs continued programme activities at new work sites.
• PEs' comfort levels in discussing sexual topics and knowledge about HIV/AIDS greatly improved over time and equaled or surpassed those of HCs at follow-up.
• Knowledge increased for both groups of workers, but diffusion of information to non-exposed workers was greater at the PE sites than the HC sites.
• There were statistically significant improvements in key outcomes among exposed workers in both arms, although improvements on several variables were greater at PE sites.
• There is some evidence of increased condom use, although workers report low levels of sexual risk behavior.
• Cost per worker reached was lower for the PE programme than the HC program.
• Support of management was key, and management became involved for variedreasons.