NIMH Project Accept (HPTN 043): results from in-depth interviews with a longitudinal cohort of community members.
BACKGROUND
NIMH Project Accept (HPTN 043) is a community- randomized trial to test the safety and efficacy of a community-level intervention designed to increase testing and lower HIV incidence in Tanzania, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Thailand. The evaluation design included a longitudinal study with community members to assess attitudinal and behavioral changes in study outcomes including HIV testing norms, HIV-related discussions, and HIV-related stigma.


METHODS
A cohort of 657 individuals across all sites was selected to participate in a qualitative study that involved 4 interviews during the study period. Baseline and 30-month data were summarized according to each outcome, and a qualitative assessment of changes was made at the community level over time.


RESULTS
Members from intervention communities described fewer barriers and greater motivation for testing than those from comparison communities. HIV-related discussions in intervention communities were more grounded in personal testing experiences. A change in HIV-related stigma over time was most pronounced in Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Participants in the intervention communities from these two sites attributed community-level changes in attitudes to project specific activities.


CONCLUSIONS
The Project Accept intervention was associated with more favorable social norms regarding HIV testing, more personal content in HIV discussions in all study sites, and qualitative changes in HIV-related stigma in two of five sites.
Department of Health Behavior, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
Suzanne
S
Maman
Social, Behavioural and Biomedical Interventions Unit, Human Sciences Research Council, Pieternaritzburg, South Africa.
Heidi
H
van Rooyen
Department of Health Behavior, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
Petra
P
Stankard
Department of Psychiatry, University of Zimbabwe. Harare, Zimbabwe.
Alfred
A
Chingono
Perinatal HIV Research Unit, Witswatersrand University, Soweto, South Africa.
Tshifhiwa
T
Muravha
Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Jacob
J
Ntogwisangu
Social, Behavioural and Biomedical Interventions Unit, Human Sciences Research Council, Pieternaritzburg, South Africa.
Zipho
Z
Phakathi
Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Namtip
N
Srirak
Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, Califorinia, United States of America.
Stephen
S
F Morin
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000349:Africa; D003256:Community Participation / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D036301:Qualitative Research; D057545:Social Stigma; D013785:Thailand