Safety Counts: A Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention to Reduce HIV/Hepatitis Risks among Drug Users Who Are Not in Drug Treatment

Investigators: Michele Wood, Jonny Andía, Gricel Arredondo, Nan Corby, Jason Farrell, Camilla Harshbarger, Gary MacDonald, Sharon Novey, Kevin O’Connor, Fen Rhodes, Paul Simons, James Testaverde, & the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

The Safety Counts program is a proven intervention for out-of-treatment drug-using persons that will enable them to reduce their risk of becoming infected with or transmitting the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis viruses such as hepatitis C. The Safety Counts intervention is appropriate for HIV-positive as well as HIV-negative drug users. Safety Counts is based on research that found this intervention to be effective in reducing high-risk sex and drug-use behaviors among both injection and noninjection drug users. As such, it is recommended for implementation by community-based organizations (CBOs) serving drug users. Through structured group and individual activities, the intervention assists clients in setting personal risk reduction goals and developing specific steps for achieving them. In partnership with behavioral counselors and outreach workers, clients design and manage their personalized goals for reducing their risks of acquiring or transmitting HIV and viral hepatitis. Ongoing support for achieving risk reduction goals is provided through sustained contact with program staff, interactions with peers who are enrolled in the program, and exposure to the personal stories of other drug users in the local community who have been successful in reducing their own risks. Clients participate in the intervention for a period of 4 months. This client-centered intervention benefits the client and the community. The research showed that the intervention reduced HIV risks by reducing drug use, increasing condom use, and increasing self-reported entry into drug treatment. Clients benefit from the strong outreach component of Safety Counts and from referrals to medical and social services. For HIV-positive clients, Safety Counts may allow them to deal with issues beyond substance use and HIV, such as addressing risk behaviors that can lead to contracting hepatitis and other infections. All clients learn how to make positive changes in their lives through setting specific goals and developing action steps to achieve their goals. These skills empower clients to take charge of their own risk behaviors, thereby benefiting themselves, their partners, their families, and their communities.

Safety Point

Investigators: Fen Rhodes

This program is a community-based intervention that seeks to reduce sex- and drug-related HIV risk factors in populations of injection drug and crack cocaine users. The intervention consists of nine sessions conducted by indigenous outreach workers over a period of four to six months. Participants attend two sessions of NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse) standard HIV counseling and testing, two group workshop sessions, and one individual counseling session. In addition, all participants receive a minimum of two planned supportive visits from outreach staff, and are encouraged to attend a minimum of two risk-reduction social events. Monetary and non-monetary incentives are used to encourage attendance. This program's effectiveness was evaluated in comparison to the effectiveness of the NIDA standard HIV counseling and testing intervention for reducing risky behavior among IDUs. Participants were interviewed at enrollment and five to nine months after the intervention. Urine tests at enrollment and follow-up allowed researchers to collect information on opiate and cocaine use. In comparison with participants in the NIDA standard intervention, participants in the enhanced intervention were significantly more likely to increase their self-reported condom use, reduce or cease their self-reported drug use, seek drug-abuse treatment, and/or have a negative urine test for cocaine or opiates at follow-up. (Rhodes, Wood and Hershberger, 1999). Click here to view more detailed information on this program.

San Francisco Teenage Pregnancy and Parenting Project, 1981-1987

Investigators: Amy Loomis & Virginia Broder

The San Francisco Teenage Pregnancy and Parenting Project (TAPP) is based in a private non-profit Family Service Agency in San Francisco, California, and receives federal funding under the Adolescent Family Life (AFL) Title XX of the 1981 Public Health Service Act. Program components include comprehensive care, continuous case management, and co-location of service providers for expectant and parenting adolescents. Data were collected by case managers at client intake, pregnancy outcome, and at six and 12 months after delivery. Data included in DAAPPP cover clients who entered the program from December 1981 through September 1987. A selection of 175 variables most useful to DAAPPP users is included. These data are presented in 2 Data Sets. DAAPPP Data Set No. C8 ("Intake") includes intake information on 1,513 clients, with a total of 70 variables. Data Set No. C9 ("Outcome") includes pregnancy outcome and follow-up information on 1,008 pregnancies, with a total of 105 variables. The same client may have as many as four separate pregnancy records in the Outcome file, Data Set No. C9. Information on the same client from these two separate files may be linked by the client's identification code.

San Jose, California Study of Adolescent Perinatal Risk Reduction Behavior, 1982

Investigators: Paul Hensleigh and Nancy Moss

The purpose of this study was to develop a model of adolescent perinatal risk behavior and examine the relationship between at- risk pregnancy behavior of adolescents and perinatal outcomes. The file contains data collected from 93 women under age 18 who had just given birth in one of five San Jose area hospitals in July and August of 1982. The data were collected by means of a structured, close-ended survey instrument. The file includes information on substance use and abuse, pregnancy and labor outcomes, social support, the use of services, contraceptive use, previous pregnancies, education, respondents' orientation toward the future, and relationship to the father of the child.Note for users of DAAPPP Data Sets #01-B1DAAPPP data sets 01 through B1 are comprised of a User's Guide, SPSS syntax files (*.SPS or *.SPX) and raw data files only. Most of these datasets contain SPSS syntax files that use Job Control Language (JCL) from 1980s versions of SPSS-X. Because the syntax is old, the syntax files require editing to conform to the current syntax standards used by SPSS/Windows or SPSS/Unix. If you require technical assistance in using or editing these syntax files, please contact Sociometrics' Data Support Group at 800.846.3475 or socio@socio.com.

Santa Cruz County Male Involvement Program

Investigators: Lynn McKibbin, Lisa Cederblom, & Belinda Carter

The Santa Cruz County Male Involvement Program (hereafter, Male Involvement Program) is a collaborative school-, community-, and clinic-based intervention, which was originally implemented as part of a statewide, male-focused pregnancy prevention effort funded by the California Department of Health Services. The overall goals of the Male Involvement Program are: to increase knowledge, skills, and motivation of at-risk adolescent boys and young adult men in order to actively promote their role in reducing teen pregnancies; to increase community and individual awareness regarding the importance of the roles and responsibilities of young males in the prevention of teen pregnancies and to reinforce community values that support these roles; and to increase males' access to reproductive health information and contraceptive supplies. To foster community support surrounding male involvement in the prevention of unintended pregnancies, the Information Campaign focuses on four activities: (1) the design and distribution throughout the county of posters regarding the importance of male involvement in teen pregnancy prevention; (2) pamphlets about the program and fathers' rights and responsibilities; (3) male involvement events; and (4) media purchases, including radio spots and signs on public buses with male involvement messages. In Santa Cruz County, program participants were instrumental in designing media slogans and images. The Male Involvement Program was chosen for the Archive of Male-Oriented Pregnancy Prevention Programs because it has clear goals and objectives; it has been sustainable for a number of years; and both staff and participants expressed satisfaction with the program. In addition, the program has received both local and international honors.

School Districts, 1990

Investigators: National Center for Education Statistics, Department of Education

A public school district is an area whose public schools are administratively affiliated with a local education agency recognized by the state education agency as responsible for implementing the state's elementary and secondary public education program. While most areas of the U.S. are covered by one or more school districts, there are parts of some states that are not covered by any school district. These areas are referred to as "balance of county" areas and treated as "pseudo" school districts in the data set. In all or parts of some states, school districts are coextensive with counties, MCDs, places, or combinations thereof; in other areas, they have virtually no relationship to other census geography, and may even split blocks. This dataset includes demographic, administrative and financial data for a total of 15,304 school districts (15274 school districts + 30 balance of county areas). The data set has a total of 1,140 variables.

School to Work Transition Survey of Deaf Youth, 1986-1992

Investigators: Thomas E. Allen, Brenda W. Rawlings, Arthur N. Schildroth, and Kay H. Lam

The School to Work Transition Survey of Deaf Youth, 1986-1992 was administered by the Center for Assessment and Demographic Studies (CADS) at Gallaudet University, Washington, DC. The project examined factors in the transition of deaf youth from high school to the work place. The transition of deaf youth from high school to their postsecondary careers is a major concern of educators and rehabilitation professionals working with this segment of the population. The student sample was taken from the ongoing CADS Annual Survey of Deaf and Hard-of- Hearing Children and Youth. The student sample was limited to deaf students ages 16-22, with a hearing threshold greater than 70 dB in the better ear. The student sample was drawn from a national database containing demographic, audiological, and educational information, representing the majority of students in America with significant levels of hearing loss. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed in 1987 to deaf and hard-of-hearing students; parents of the students, and their high school counselors. The study also included three follow up Student and Parent surveys administered between 1988 and 1992, as well as results from the 1983 Stanford Achievement Test. The archived study includes 469 variables across 6,475 cases.

School-Linked Reproductive Health Services (The Self Center)

Investigators: Laurie Schwab-Zabin, Janet B. Hardy, & Rosalie Streett

Originally launched as a partnership between junior and senior high schools and a neighborhood clinic, this program combines education, counseling, and reproductive services into a comprehensive intervention for youth. Services are provided by a team of nurses and social workers who divide their time between the schools and clinic. School-based components include: (1) at least one presentation to each homeroom class per semester to introduce the program and begin discussing values clarification, decision making, and reproductive health; ( 2) informal discussion groups that arise as students seek advice and information from staff on such themes as pubertal development, drug use, and parenting; and (3) individual counseling sessions, available as needed, with a social worker. At the clinic, reproductive and extended counseling services are provided, and referrals are given for teens requiring medical care. Staff encourage students waiting for appointments to participate in discussion groups and examine educational videos and pamphlets. A three-year field test of the intervention was conducted in a low-income neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland, where elevated rates of sexual activity and teen pregnancy had been recorded. Compared to their peers attending comparable schools, students in the target schools showed reduced levels of sexual activity and (among the sexually active) more effective use of contraception. These effects were greatest among the younger, sexually active girls and boys whose use of contraception was minimal at the start of the program. A delay in the onset of sexual activity was also recorded among abstinent youth. Click here to view more detailed information on this program.

School/Community Program for Sexual Risk Reduction among Teens

Investigators: Murray Vincent

This program is a community-wide public outreach campaign. It incorporates multiple forms of outreach and public education to engage the entire community in preventing pregnancy among unmarried adolescents. Public schools, universities, church groups and civic organizations are all targeted as sites for training and workshops concerning human physiology, sexual development, self-concept and sexual awareness, values clarification and communication skills. Abstinence is promoted as the preferred sexual health decision in all activities; contraceptive information is provided for teens who do choose to become sexually active. The intervention was developed and field tested in a rural, low-income and predominantly African-American community. A significant drop in the pregnancy rate was recorded during the full implementation period of the program. Click here to view more detailed information on this program.

Second Longitudinal Study of Aging: Baseline (Second Supplement on Aging, 1994-1996)

Investigators: National Center for Health Statistics

The Second Longitudinal Study of Aging (LSOA II) is a collaborative effort of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and the National Institute on Aging (NIA). Conducted ten years after the original LSOA, it is a prospective study with a nationally representative sample comprised of 9,447 civilian non-institutionalized persons 70 years of age and over in 1995. The specific aims of the study include: To provide a replication of the first SOA in order to determine whether there have been changes in the disability and impairment process among older persons between the 1980's and 1990's; To provide information on the sequence and consequences of health events, including utilization of health care and services for assisted community living, on the physiological consequences of disability such as pain and fatigue, on social consequences such as changes in social activities, living arrangements, social support, and use of community services, and on the deployment of assisted living strategies and accessibility of technological and environmental adaptations; To provide information on the causes and correlates of changes in health and functioning of older Americans, including social and demographic characteristics, preexisting and emerging physical illnesses, cognitive and emotional status, and social and environmental support; and To provide information on individual health risks and behaviors in the elderly including alcohol and cigarette use, use of hormone replacement therapy, receipt of important health screenings such as mammography and prostate exams, body mass and weight loss, physical activity, and diet and nutrition. The Second Supplement on Aging (SOA II), conducted as a supplement to the 1994 National Health Institute Survey (NHIS), served as the baseline for the LSOA II. Follow-up interviews were conducted in 1997–98 (Wave 2) and 1999–2000 (Wave 3). The baseline interview was administered face-to-face in the home by U.S. Census Bureau interviewers. The Wave 2 and Wave 3 follow-up interviews were administered using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI) by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. The interview data may be augmented by linkage to Medicare records, the National Death Index, and multiple cause-of-death records.