Module 4: Foundation of a Prevention Program

Goal of Module 4: To provide methods, examples, and tools with which to carry out your HIV/AIDS prevention program.

In order to provide an effective HIV prevention intervention for Native people, you will need to lay a strong community foundation and apply intervention programs in a culturally meaningful way. One option is to tailor existing interventions to fit the unique needs of your Native community. This module includes an overview of program components, information on CDC’s Advancing HIV Prevention Initiative, descriptions of evidence-based interventions, and an introduction to storytelling as a prevention strategy.
Contents 1c Effective Prevention Messages
1. Components of a Comprehensive Prevention Program:

2. Advancing HIV Prevention Initiative:
3. Evidence-Based Interventions:
4. Introduction to Storytelling as a Prevention Strategy:

To encourage Native people to seek counseling and testing, your program should create a safe and respectful environment. Try to reduce fear, stigma, and social taboos surrounding HIV risk in your community. Design prevention messages that are positive, accepting, and life-affirming. To do this, you can apply grassroots education, social marketing, and media campaigns. Feel free to be creative in your formats; you can use written, audio, visual, and tactile educational materials to get your community’s attention.

INNOVATIVE HIV/AIDS PREVENTION MESSAGES

HAWK (Honoring Ancient Wisdom and Knowledge) promotes prevention education through the traditional model of "putting back into the circle." The California AIDS Clearinghouse (CAC) funded a peer advocacy project called HAWK Reloaded, in which Native American youth wrote and developed songs for a CD. The music and lyrics are intended to motivate youth to make healthy choices that will reduce the risk of HIV/AIDS/STI infections within their communities. This CD is recommended for outreach, individual-level, and group-level interventions. Listen to the songs If, Life on the Line, and Hope. You can order the full CD here.

The Menominee Tribal Clinic created The Wall of Moccasins, a display to honor Native people who died from HIV/AIDS. The moccasin artwork display toured local and regional health fairs, powwows, and World AIDS Day events to raise awareness for the disease. The display includes powerful words of dedication: To honor the memory of the twelve Menominee tribal members we have lost to AIDS. These were our sons, our daughters. Our sisters and our brothers. Our mothers and our aunties. Our fathers and our uncles. We are all, every one of us, touched by this loss.

Some things to remember when creating prevention messages, materials, and activities:

  • Your prevention messages should be visual and relevant. Assess community knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Use this information to engage specific risk groups.
  • Speakers that use traditional storytelling can inspire positive changes in attitudes and behaviors.
  • Elders, community leaders, HIV-positive persons, family members, and Native celebrities make great spokespersons because they already have the trust and respect of their Native communities. For many people, putting a familiar face to the disease makes the threat seem more real.

FOCUS ON FILMS: EXEMPLARY HIV/AIDS PREVENTION VIDEOS

The Alaska Native Health Board (ANHB) created a short film—“Breaking the Silence, Strengthening the Spirit”—based on a true story of an HIV-positive Alaska Native. In the film, the Native returns to his village at the end of his life. His family gathers the community together to tell them of his illness and passes on his message: “HIV has come to our village.” The community rallies around the family and many community members get tested for HIV as a result. You can watch the short version or the full version of the film online (if you don’t have XviD, download it here).

The Association of American Indian Physicians (AAIP) in Oklahoma City produced a powerful video called “The Phillip Smith Story.” “In the video, Phillip Smith, a young Choctaw man living with AIDS, educates American Indians and Alaska Natives about the consequences of high-risk behavior.” 5 The video portrays Phillip’s day-to-day activities, including visiting his doctor and case management worker, taking medication, and interacting with his family.

The Hawaii State Department of Education (along with CDC, Life Foundation, and other sponsors) produced a video called “HIV in Hawaii: Local People, Local Stories.” The video tells the heart-rending story of Jaimie Kahale, a Native Hawaiian woman diagnosed with HIV at age 26, and her husband, who died of AIDS. Eager to break the myth that AIDS is a “gay white man’s disease,” Jaimie lectures to children in schools about the risks of HIV.

5Elton Naswood. Strengthening the Circle: Curriculum and Support Workshops for Native American Gay/Two Spirit Men. The Red Circle Project, AIDS Project Los Angeles. Available at: http://www.apla.org/native_american/RCP/training_materials/RCP_Workshop_Outline_RevisedFINAL.pdf. Accessed February 19, 2007.