Did a Brief Intervention Increase Community-Based Youth-Serving Professionals' Sexual Healthcare Discussions and Referrals with Young Men?

Marcell, Arik

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Galleria Exhibit Hall

Arik Marcell, MD, MPH¹, Jamie Perin, PhD², Susannah Gibbs, MSPH³, Shalynn Howard, MA⁴, Shannon Heuklom, MSN, MPH, NP⁵, Nanlesta Pilgrim, PhD⁶, Jacky Jennings, PhD, MPH⁷, Renata Arrington-Sanders, MD, MPH, ScM⁸, Kathleen Page, MD⁹, Penny Loosier, PhD, MPH¹⁰ and Patricia Dittus, PhD¹⁰, 1Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 2Global Disease Epidemiology and Control, Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, MD, 3Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins, BALTIMORE, MD, 4Center for Child and Community Health Research, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, 5Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, School of Medicine, BALTIMORE, MD, 6Population Council, washington, MD, 7Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 8Division of General Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 9Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 10Division of STD Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA

Background: Young men aged 15-24 have significant unmet sexual/reproductive health (SRH) needs. This study’s goal was to evaluate impact of training community-based youth-serving professionals (YSPs) to engage young men in SRH care.

Methods: A 60-minute training designed to increase SRH knowledge, self-efficacy and skills to talk about SRH, use new website clinical guide and refer to care was conducted in community-based settings. Evaluation used quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design. Before training (baseline), 154 YSP staff from 25 community settings in one urban mid-Atlantic city completed a paper-survey assessing SRH knowledge scales (general, referral), self-efficacy scales (talking, website use, referral), and behaviors (talking, website use, referral). At 3-month follow-up, 97 participants completed an email survey via Redcap (Retention rate=63%). Retained vs. non-retained participants were more likely be a teacher and older age, and less likely to be African American. Generalized linear mixed effects estimated change in each outcome from baseline to follow-up among each participant clustered by work settings.

Results: Majority of YSPs completing both surveys were Black (59%), female (68%), and aged 30-59 years old (71%). Occupations included 40% case workers, 13% counselors, and 10% each teachers and peer leaders. Significant (P<0.05) improvements were observed in majority of measures from baseline to follow-up among each YSP. Specifically, each YSP improved in their SRH knowledge in general (31% increase) and about referral (48% increase); SRH self-efficacy in talking (11% increase), website use (13% increase) and referral (7% increase); and SRH behaviors about talking (35% increase), and sharing website (319% increase), but not referral, with young men in past month from baseline to follow-up.

Conclusions: This study found a training about young men’s SRH care improved YSP’s SRH knowledge, self-efficacy, and behaviors talking about SRH and using a new website about SRH with young men. Findings have major implications for YSPs working in community-based settings serving similar populations.

WP 22 Did a Brief Intervention Increase Community-Based Youth-Serving Professionals' Sexual Healthcare Discussions and Referrals with Young Men?