Tu Amigo Pepe: Evaluation of a Multi-Media Marketing Campaign that Targets Young Latino Immigrant MSM with HIV Testing Messages

Latino immigrant men who have sex with men (MSM) are at risk for HIV and delayed diagnosis in the United States. 

This paper describes the evaluation of a pilot of the Tu Amigo Pepe, a multimedia HIV testing campaign aimed at Latino MSM in Seattle, WA particularly targeting immigrants who may not identify as gay, ages 18-30 years old. The 16-week campaign included Spanish-language radio public service announcements (PSAs), a Web site, social media outreach, a reminder system using mobile technology, print materials and a toll-free hotline. 

In developing the PSAs, the Integrated Behavioral Model was used as a framework to reframe negative attitudes, beliefs and norms towards HIV testing with positive ones as well as to promote self-efficacy towards HIV testing. 

The campaign had a significant and immediate impact on attitudes, beliefs, norms and self-efficacy towards HIV testing as well as on actual behavior, with HIV testing rates increasing over time.

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By:  Solorio R1,2,3, Norton-Shelpuk P4, Forehand M5, Montaño D6, Stern J7, Aguirre J8,9, Martinez M9.

• 1Department of Health Services, School of Public Health, University of Washington, 4333 Brooklyn Ave NE., Box 359455, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA. solorio@u.washington.edu.
• 2Department of Global Health, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, WA, USA. solorio@u.washington.edu.
• 3Social and Behavioral Prevention Core, University of Washington Center for AIDS Research, Seattle, WA, USA. solorio@u.washington.edu.
• 4Activate Brands, Denver, CO, USA.
• 5University of Washington Foster School of Business, Seattle, WA, USA.
• 6Battelle Research Center, Seattle, WA, USA.
• 7Department of Global Health, University of Washington School of Public Health, Seattle, WA, USA.
• 8Department of Health Services, School of Public Health, University of Washington, 4333 Brooklyn Ave NE., Box 359455, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.
• 9Entre Hermanos, Seattle, WA, USA. 
• AIDS Behav. 2016 Feb 5. 

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Talk Radio as the Soundtrack of Our Lives: Participatory HIV/AIDS Communication, Public Self-Expression & Positive Talk

Despite the many HIV/AIDS communication initiatives, combined with support and infrastructural support in South Africa, risky behaviour associated with the spread of the epidemic is increasing amongst many groups. This calls for a re-evaluation of endeavours aimed at curbing the spread of the epidemic. This article is only concerned with the communicational aspects of the epidemic, but does not negate the interaction of these with other measures taken to address the epidemic. 

As is the case with most health communication initiatives, HIV/AIDS communication initiatives have evolved to favour the participatory approach above one-directional transmission of information to the public. The participatory approach rests on the assumption that an HIV/AIDS communication initiative stands the best chance of resulting in behaviour change if members of the target community participate in the communication initiative. The assumption is that as many people as possible should be involved in the maximum number of phases of the communicative initiative (such as initial research, planning, implementation and evaluation of the project). Some research has recently started to explore new forms of community participation, including inviting community participation through, for example, internet-based platforms such as social media, and mobile phone platforms such as WhatsApp and BBM. However, the reality broadcast genre - more specifically, talk radio - has been neglected, as only a few research investigations focused on talk radio and most of these are not exclusively about HIV/AIDS communication but focus on other health topics. 

From a participatory communication perspective, two sets of critique against the existing HIV/AIDS communication projects hold water: firstly, they do not make the maximum use of participatory communication principles and, secondly, they are externally initiated projects and emanate from outside the target community. To address both of these concerns, this article explores a wider range of participatory principles and the potential workings of these in an internally initiated communication initiative aimed at addressing the epidemic. More specifically, this article investigates ways in which radio listeners experience the reality broadcast genre - the talk radio show, Positive Talk - as participatory communication. 

Positive Talk is not an externally initiated project, as it is not part of a pre-planned, goal-oriented project that is owned and controlled outside the target community. In contrast, it has been initiated by Criselda Kananda, an individual not linked to any of the existing initiatives outside the community. She started the show to earn a living. She became a well-known person, is fairly knowledgeable in the field and was granted this opportunity as she is HIV-positive. In order to investigate how radio listeners use the show to engage in HIV/AIDS communication, 20 in-depth interviews were held with avid listeners of the show. 

The respondents indicated that they appreciate ordinary people phoning in. When expressing their opinions about the show, they found Kananda's life story credible, believed her public and private life to be congruent, valued Kananda's personality and respectful manner and could identify with the views expressed. In the article, it is argued that these ideas are largely in line with the principles of participatory communication tied to democracy, the participatory turn, the ordinary, validation of identity and respectful dialogue. 

Although the findings of this qualitative study cannot be generalised to the whole listening population of the show, they indicate that it is worth investigating the value of communication initiatives that emerge spontaneously from communities (instead of those strategically engineered from outside the general population) as a future direction of HIV/AIDS communication in the country.

Full article at:   http://goo.gl/sRPZp0

By:   Burger M1.

• 1a D Litt et Phil is affiliated to the Department of Communication Studies , University of Johannesburg , Johannesburg , South Africa, *Email: mburger@uj.ac.za. 

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Reducing Concurrent Sexual Partnerships among Blacks in the Rural Southeastern United States: Development of Narrative Messages for a Radio Campaign

In the United States, heterosexual transmission of HIV infection is dramatically higher among Blacks than among Whites. Overlapping (concurrent) sexual partnerships promote HIV transmission. 

The authors describe their process for developing a radio campaign (Escape the Web) to raise awareness among 18-34-year-old Black adults of the effect of concurrency on HIV transmission in the rural South. Radio is a powerful channel for the delivery of narrative-style health messages. 

Through six focus groups (n = 51) and 42 intercept interviews, the authors explored attitudes toward concurrency and solicited feedback on sample messages. Men were advised to (a) end concurrent partnerships and not to begin new ones; (b) use condoms consistently with all partners; and (c) tell others about the risks of concurrency and benefits of ending concurrent partnerships. The narrative portrayed risky behaviors that trigger initiation of casual partnerships. Women were advised to (a) end partnerships in which they are not their partner's only partner; (b) use condoms consistently with all partners; and (c) tell others about the risks of concurrency and benefits of ending concurrent partnerships. Messages for all advised better modeling for children.

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By: Cates JR1, Francis DB1, Ramirez C2, Brown JD1, Schoenbach VJ3, Fortune T4, Powell Hammond W5, Adimora AA2,3.

• 1School of Journalism and Mass Communication , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Chapel Hill , North Carolina , USA.
• 2Department of Medicine, School of Medicine , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Chapel Hill , North Carolina , USA.
• 3Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Chapel Hill , North Carolina , USA.
• 4MEE Productions, Inc. , Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , USA.
• 5Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Chapel Hill , North Carolina , USA.

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