Reducing cultural and psychological barriers to Latino enrollment in HIV-prevention counseling: Initial data on an enrollment meta-intervention

Abstract

Aspects of Latino culture (e.g., machismo, marianism) can act as barriers to enrollment in HIV-prevention programs. To lift these barriers, a culturally appropriate meta-intervention was designed to increase intentions to enroll in HIV-prevention counseling by Latinos. Latino participants (N=41) were recruited from the community and randomly assigned to either an experimental or control meta-intervention condition that varied the introduction to a HIV-prevention counseling program. Following the meta-intervention, participants were issued an invitation to take part in HIV-prevention counseling. The outcome measure was the intention to enroll in a HIV-prevention counseling session. Findings indicated that enrollment intentions were higher in the experimental meta-intervention condition (96%) than in the control meta-intervention condition (53%). In addition, the effects of the meta-intervention were comparable across genders and participant ages. Findings suggest that the use of a culturally appropriate meta-intervention may be an effective strategy for increasing Latino enrollment in HIV-prevention programs. These promising findings warrant further investigation into the efficacy and effectiveness of this meta-intervention.

Keywords:

• HIV prevention
• intervention
• Latinos
• enrollment in health promotion programs
• culture

Acknowledgement

The research was supported by Grant K02-MH075616 from the National Institutes of Mental Health.