Educational impact of peer-intervention on the knowledge and attitudes about HIV/AIDS in adolescents in Panama
Aramburú, M.ía.G.; Estripeaut, D.; Rowley, S.; Smoot, S.; Chamorro, F.; Bayard, V.
International Journal of Adolescent Medicine and Health 24(2): 135-141
2012
ISSN/ISBN: 0334-0139 PMID: 22909922 DOI: 10.1515/ijamh.2012.020Document Number: 565023
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices about HIV/AIDS of high school students in Panama City, Panama and the impact of a peer-to-peer intervention project. There were 659 participants in two public and two private schools, one of each got the intervention and the other serving as control. A questionnaire was used as a pretest and post-test to measure the effects of the intervention. The intervention consisted of 12 weekly sessions led by professionally trained peers using four different modalities: theater, group dynamics, videos, and discussions. The difference in the knowledge scores of the questionnaire resulted in an improvement in both the private (ES=0.63) and the public (ES=0.52) schools with the intervention. Another important finding was that the idea of abstinence as disease prevention for high school students rose from 7% to 60% (public school) and from 27% to 62% (private school) in response to an open-ended question. There were other significant positive findings that demonstrate the efficacy of this peer-to-peer model educating high school students about lowering the risks of contracting HIV/AIDS. This model could also be used to prevent or mitigate other risky behaviors.