The staying safe intervention: training people who inject drugs in strategies to avoid injection-related HCV and HIV infection.
This pilot study explores the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of the Staying Safe Intervention, an innovative, strengths-based program to facilitate prevention of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus and with the hepatitis C virus among people who inject drugs (PWID). The authors explored changes in the intervention's two primary endpoints: (a) frequency and amount of drug intake, and (b) frequency of risky injection practices. We also explored changes in hypothesized mediators of intervention efficacy: planning skills, motivation/self-efficacy to inject safely, skills to avoid PWID-associated stigma, social support, drug-related withdrawal symptoms, and injection network size and risk norms. A 1-week, five-session intervention (10 hours total) was evaluated using a pre- versus 3-month posttest design. Fifty-one participants completed pre- and posttest assessments. Participants reported significant reductions in drug intake and injection-related risk behavior. Participants also reported significant increases in planning skills, motivation/self-efficacy, and stigma management strategies, while reducing their exposure to drug withdrawal episodes and risky injection networks.
Pedro
P
Mateu-Gelabert
Marya Viorst
MV
Gwadz
Honoria
H
Guarino
Milagros
M
Sandoval
Charles M
CM
Cleland
Ashly
A
Jordan
Holly
H
Hagan
Howard
H
Lune
Samuel R
SR
Friedman
D000328:Adult; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D016485:Needle Sharing / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012931:Social Environment; D012944:Social Support; D015819:Substance Abuse, Intravenous / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult