Researchers implement life skills program to reduce HIV and drug use among South African youth

Penn StateDec 14 2010

Drug use, risky sexual behavior and violence among South African youth may be reduced thanks to Penn State researchers, who will look at expanding a leisure education and life skills program to 56 South African high schools. The researchers, led by Linda Caldwell, professor of recreation, park, and tourism management, and Edward Smith, associate director of the Penn State Prevention Research Center for the Promotion of Human Development, received a $2.8-million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Caldwell and her colleagues will implement HealthWise, a curriculum they developed that "teaches youth how to best utilize their free time," said Caldwell. HealthWise teaches adolescents to examine personal motivations and other factors leading to their decision-making, and it also provides information on safe sexual practices and how to avoid risky situations. In better understanding why they make decisions, youth can successfully prevent poor outcomes that result from risky decisions.

Recent studies show that nearly one-quarter of HIV-infected individuals in South Africa are under the age of 25, and AIDS is responsible for 71 percent of all deaths in the 15 to 49 year age group. One in eight South African high school students begins drinking alcohol before the age of 13. In grades 8 through 11, more than 10 percent of children have tried marijuana ,and about 30 percent of children have smoked cigarettes.

Caldwell and Smith first implemented HealthWise in the Cape Town Metro South Education District (MSED) in 2001 as a pilot program and later as a randomized trial involving nine schools and over 7,000 youth. Results from the trial indicated HealthWise was effective in reducing both substance use and sexual risk. Cigarette and alcohol use, for example, were significantly lower among those in the HealthWise schools. In addition, fewer males initiated sexual behavior and were less likely to push girls into unwanted sex. Importantly, from the perspective of reducing HIV risk, both males and females reported less use of substances at sexual encounters and were less likely to report having sex with someone they had recently met. There was also increased perception of condom availability, condom skills and conversations with partners surrounding condom use.

Following the success of the first trial, MSED administrators approached Caldwell and Smith requesting that they help with a large-scale implementation.

"We saw great success in HealthWise over the past decade, said Caldwell. "We hear constantly from teachers and district administrators of how good HealthWise is. The kids like it, too, because it's so positive. Now we're looking at what factors of success are important for a large-scale rollout of the program."

Many preventive interventions become less effective as they transition from a controlled testing environment to the real world, said Caldwell. One primary goal of her research is to assess how to best implement HealthWise in a large-scale manner. The researchers are looking at the effectiveness of different methods for enhancing the school environment, such as "branding" the school as a HealthWise school through posters in hallways, integrating the HealthWise curriculum into normal school operations, or creating a leadership team among school administrators. They will also be studying variations of teacher training, including how long training sessions should last - one day-long session vs. multiple half-day sessions - and the use of follow-up training. Finally, they will test different methods for providing ongoing support and supervision, such as having teachers keep daily journals of how they implement HealthWise.

After this next five-year project, Caldwell, Smith, and their research team plan to hand the project off to researchers and administrators in South Africa, who, Caldwell said, have been equal partners in conducting all facets of the research project.

The results of this research should have implications in areas outside of South Africa, too, said Caldwell. "Many areas in the United States mirror some of what we see in South Africa, in terms of socioeconomic status. The lessons we learn here should translate to other geographic regions."