Over the past 17 years the face of AIDS has changed form gay White males to poor inner city Blacks. ...there is a state of emergency regarding the AIDS crisis in the Black community and that the US government must declare the AIDS epidemic in the Black community a public health emergency..." The Congressional Black Caucus

Healer Women Fighting Disease: The Integrated HIV/AIDS and Substance Abuse Prevention Project for African American Women

Vision: Increase the capacity of Black women to serve as catalysts (Healer Women) for HIV/AIDS and substance abuse "behavioral change" through cognitive restructuring, cultural realignment and character development.

Goals: The overall goal of this project is to help women to engage in risk-reduction behavior and initiate and/or sustain behavior that will reduce or eliminate their risk of transmitting the AIDS virus.

Theoretical Foundation: In utilizing the African Centered Behavioral Change Model, this project is designed to increase the protective factors within the Black population that retard disease and dysfunction by re-instilling traditional African and African American health promotion "cultural" values in Black women. By realigning the behavioral process of the community and the psycho-behavioral dynamics of the community to its traditional, indigenous cultural reality, one simultaneously inoculates the community from disease and encourages community homeostasis (i.e. promotes harmony and health). The principle that drives "change" in the African Centered Behavioral Change Model is awareness of one's spiritual and physical coherence, which, in turn, demands the veneration of the person.

Scope of the Activities: To provide integrated substance abuse and HIV/AIDS prevention services for African Americans who are at risk of being infected and/or affected by HIV/AIDS.

Prevention Concerns: The Integrated HIV/AIDS and Substance Abuse Prevention Project for African American Women is a unique behavioral change prevention and intervention plan that is based on the cognitive restructuring, cultural realignment and character development of Black women.

Project Objective: The objective is to enhance CBO's capacity to address the pandemic of HIV/AIDS & ATOD abuse by (1) providing Black women with culturally consistent HIV/AIDS and substance abuse prevention information and materials in naturalistic settings and (2) helping Black women to adopt/internalize values and attitudes that are antithetical to risk-taking, life threatening conduct.

Research Design: A 2x2 pre-post research design was used to test the efficacy of cognitive restructuring, cultural re-alignment and character development as a tool for prevention with at-risk populations and HIV positive women.
Sample Population: The intervention group consisted of 105 African American women and the comparison group had 44 African American women. The age range of the population was between 13 - 54 years old (Average age = 34.71).

Predicted Outcomes: (1) An increase in knowledge about the cause, transmission, progression and prevention of HIV/STDs among African American women. (2) Change from at risk of HIV/STD behaviors & beliefs to health promoting and maintenance behaviors & beliefs. (3) Reduction of drug usage.