Background:
As HIV and STD rates continue to increase, so does the demand from Health Departments, Community Based Organizations (CBO) and Community Planning Groups (CPG) for skills-based, capacity building in the role of STDs in HIV prevention. To meet this demand, the California STD/HIV Prevention Training Center (CA PTC) implemented a comprehensive STD Training of Trainers (TOT) program in October/2003.

Objective:
1)Develop local capacity in the role of STDs in HIV prevention
2)Increase collaboration between STD and HIV programs


Method:
1)Recruitment: Adjunct trainings (AT) were identified through the CA PTC training network
2)Skills Training: A structured six-step process was implemented, beginning with attending a course and concluding with observation of ATs conducting quality courses.
3)Mentorship and Support: The CA PTC provided on-going mentorship and support including registration, manuals and evaluation materials.



Result:
Adjunct trainers conducted 28 courses and trained 467 participants. This is almost 21% of the CA PTC Behavioral Intervention trainings and over half (51%) of the STD Overview for Non-Clinician courses during the same time period. Seventy-three percent of ATs integrated this course into their work, without additional resources. Post course evaluations showed acquisition of skills and knowledge by participants attending an adjunct trainer facilitated course to be consistent with those of CA PTC training course evaluations.

Conclusion:
The TOT program successfully developed ATs to assist in training needs of local programs and helped to further increase local STD/HIV prevention integration capacity.


Implications:
Conducting a TOT Program can be a strong capacity building component for local agencies and assist them in meeting local training needs. Consistent quality assurance was an important aspect of this TOT program's success.