GENDER-SPECIFIC INTERVENTIONS FOR WOMEN AND THEIR MALE
PARTNERS
Grant Title: Female Condom Promotion among South African Students
Funding Source and Project Period: NICHD, R01; 2004 - 2009
Collaborating Institutions and Key Personnel:
HIV Center:
Principal Investigator: Joanne Mantell, Ph.D.
Co-Principal Investigators: Susie Hoffman, Dr.P.H.; Theresa Exner, Ph.D.
Co-Investigators: Zena Stein, M.B., B.Ch.; Lucia O'Sullivan, Ph.D.
Reproductive Health Research Unit Wits Health Consortium, South Africa:
Co-Investigators: Jennifer Smit, B.Pharm., Ph.D.; Mags Beksinska, M.Sc.;
Helen Rees, M.B., B.Chir. Immo Kleinschmidt, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Intervention Supervisor: Zonke Mabude, R.N., M.S.
Coordinator of Intervention and Field Operations: Nomsa Queen Cebekhulu, B.A.
Project Overview: Women's unequal position in sexual negotiations highlights the
need for methods – such as the female condom – that they can initiate. In South
Africa, the female condom has been endorsed as a pregnancy and disease
prevention method, and demand has been growing since the launch of a
government-sponsored introductory strategy. The female condom has the potential
to enhance women's bargaining power within their relationships, but its
successful use also depends on male partner cooperation. Few interventions for
women to learn female condom negotiation skills have been developed and
evaluated, especially in settings such as South Africa, where unequal gender
relations pose a special challenge. The proposed study will develop and test a
two-session, culture-specific, group-based female condom negotiation and
insertion skills intervention on a South African university campus. Our Specific
Aims are to (1) develop, implement, and test the effectiveness in a randomized
controlled trial of a brief cognitive-behavioral intervention versus a standard
information-only intervention on short- and long-term use of the female condom,
total number of male and female condom-unprotected occasions, and female condom
attitudes among South African female university students; (2) identify the
individual, contextual, and method-related determinants of female condom
initiation, maintenance, and discontinuation; (3) explore the context of the
introduction and use of the female condom for both women and their male partners
using qualitative methods, and (4) explore men's attitudes about the female
condom and men's role in female condom use. In the Preparatory Research Phase,
formative qualitative work (ethnographic mapping on campus and 20 focus groups,
N=200) and a campus-wide representative cross-sectional survey of 1,000 students
is being conducted to understand the social context and characterize the target
population, formulate appropriate intervention messages, and serve as a
recruitment source for the Phase II trial. The Trial Phase will test the
effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral skills intervention against an
information-only control condition on short- and long-term use and
discontinuation of the female condom among 280 women. Participants will be
assessed prior to and immediately post-intervention, and at three and six months
thereafter. In-depth interviews with 70 female trial participants and 70 of
their male partners will augment data provided by women participants to increase
understanding of the contextual factors that influence initial adoption,
long-term use and discontinuation of the female condom. If successful, this
brief intervention should be widely replicable in other similar settings.
Publications and Presentation Abstracts:
None to date. Update: 5/26/05 |
