Rochester AIDS Prevention Project (RAPP)

An Evidence-Based Practice

Description

The Rochester AIDS Prevention Project (RAPP) is a sexual health curriculum delivered in 12 sessions during middle school health education classes.

The RAPP includes general guidance and exercises about assertive communication and decision making strategies. It aims to foster pride and self-esteem among participants. Participants are provided with knowledge and skill-based activities concerning sexuality, pregnancy, STDs, and HIV/AIDS. All sessions include small and large group exercises and take-home exercises designed to incorporate parental participation.

For this nonrandomized control study, students participated in either the control group or one of the three intervention groups. Students in the control group were taught the standard school health curriculum by a regular teacher. Intervention sessions were led by adult professional educators, extensively trained high school peer educators, or school district health teachers and students received the Rochester AIDS Prevention Project curriculum. A pre-intervention and post-intervention questionnaire measured demographics, risk behaviors, and sexual intercourse history.

Goal / Mission

The goals of the program are: 1) to promote abstinence maintenance among sexually abstinent students and encourage safer sex practices to sexually active students, 2) compare the effect of RAPP when taught by different providers, and 3) to explore the factors that impact a student's decision to engage in sexual activity.

Impact

Regular teacher-taught male (p=.001) and female students (p=.05) and peer-taught male students (p=.02) had the highest rates of delaying the onset of sexual activity.

Results / Accomplishments

The intervention was most effective for delaying the onset of sexual activity among peer-taught males (p=.02) and regular teacher-taught males (p=.001) and females (p=.05). Among previously abstinent participants, increasing age (p <.01, females; p <.001, males), lower socioeconomic status (p <.0001), and higher general risk behaviors (p <.0001) best predicted the transition to sexual activity. Baseline measures suggest that urban primary-school intervention before the onset of adolescence is necessary to mitigate early development of risky sexual and life behaviors.

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
University of Rochester
Primary Contact
David M. Siegel, M.D., M.P.H.
Rochester General Hospital
1425 Portland Avenue
Pediatric Adolescent Medicine
Rochester, NY 14621
(585) 275-4733
https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/people/20117191-dav...
Topics
Health / Adolescent Health
Health / Family Planning
Organization(s)
University of Rochester
Source
Journal of Adolescent Health
Date of publication
Jul 2002
Geographic Type
Urban
Location
Rochester, NY
For more details
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12090967
Target Audience
Teens, Racial/Ethnic Minorities

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Related Content for: Rochester AIDS Prevention Project (RAPP)

An Evidence-Based Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures showing improvement in the outcome(s) of interest after the implementation of the program (i.e. increase in smoking cessation, not just the delivery of a smoking cessation program). The outcome measure(s) is/are compared at relevant time periods before and after the intervention or program implementation. Alternatively, the evaluation study compares the outcome(s) between an intervention group and an appropriate control group.
  3. The study is of peer-review quality and presents numbers in a scientific manner; measurements of precision and reliability are included (e.g. confidence intervals, standard errors), results from statistical tests show a significant difference or change in the outcome measure(s), and relevant point estimates and p-values are presented. Note: if the results from an evaluation of a program are presented in a scientific manner and the outcome measure is improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant, the practice is classified as effective and not evidence-based.