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Effects of a Pilot Church-Based Intervention to Reduce HIV Stigma and Promote HIV Testing Among African Americans and Latinos

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Abstract

HIV-related stigma and mistrust contribute to HIV disparities. Addressing stigma with faith partners may be effective, but few church-based stigma reduction interventions have been tested. We implemented a pilot intervention with 3 Latino and 2 African American churches (4 in matched pairs) in high HIV prevalence areas of Los Angeles County to reduce HIV stigma and mistrust and increase HIV testing. The intervention included HIV education and peer leader workshops, pastor-delivered sermons on HIV with imagined contact scenarios, and HIV testing events. We surveyed congregants at baseline and 6 month follow-up (n = 1235) and found statistically significant (p < 0.05) reductions in HIV stigma and mistrust in the Latino intervention churches but not in the African American intervention church nor overall across matched African American and Latino pairs. However, within matched pairs, intervention churches had much higher rates of HIV testing (p < 0.001). Stigma reduction and HIV testing may have synergistic effects in community settings.

Resumen

El estigma y la desconfianza asociada con el VIH contribuyen a las disparidades del mismo. Abordar el estigma en asociación con líderes de fe puede ser eficaz, pero hasta ahora se han evaluado pocas intervenciones en iglesias para reducir este estigma. Implementamos una intervención piloto con 3 iglesias latinas y 2 iglesias afroamericanas (4, en parejas de intervención y control) en zonas de alta prevalencia del VIH en el condado de Los Angeles, con el objetivo de reducir el estigma y la desconfianza asociada con el VIH, así como incrementar las pruebas del HIV. Esta intervención incluyó educación y talleres con líderes de grupo; sermones acerca del VIH dirigidos por pastores a sus congregaciones describiendo escenarios de interacción imaginaria; y por último, jornadas de pruebas del VIH. Encuestamos a feligreses en la línea de base y 6 meses después (n = 1235), y encontramos reducciones estadísticamente significativas (p < 0.05) en el estigma y la desconfianza asociada con el VIH en las iglesias latinas donde implementamos la intervención, pero no en la iglesia afroamericana donde implementamos la intervención, ni a través de las iglesias afroamericanas y latinas que fueron evaluadas en pareja. Sin embargo, en las iglesias evaluadas en pareja, las intervenciones arrojaron tasas más altas de pruebas realizadas del VIH (p < 0.001). La reducción del estigma y la realización de pruebas del VIH pueden tener efectos sinérgicos en entornos comunitarios.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Grant Number 1 R01 HD050150 (Derose) from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not represent the official views of NICHD. The authors thank the study’s Community Advisory Board, especially Delis Alejandro, the Rev. Chris Ponnet, Mario Pérez, Sophia Rumanes, Renee Stampolis, and Richard Zaldivar, who provided excellent guidance and counsel throughout the study. We also thank the five churches that participated in our study, which, for confidentiality reasons, are not named. Finally, we acknowledge our former colleagues at RAND and the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services (LBDHHS), who assisted with study implementation, Blanca Domínguez, Alexandria Felton, Frances Aunon, and Alexandria Smith (RAND) and Kerry Brown, Carlos Campos, and Patricia Montes (LBDHHS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. RAND Corporation, 1776 Main Street, PO Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA, 90407-2138, USA

    Kathryn P. Derose, David E. Kanouse, Laura M. Bogart, Malcolm V. Williams, Karen R. Flórez, Jennifer Hawes-Dawson & Brian D. Stucky

  2. RAND Corporation, Arlington, VA, USA

    Beth Ann Griffin

  3. Division of General Pediatrics, Department of Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Laura M. Bogart

  4. Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Laura M. Bogart

  5. RAND Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Ann C. Haas

  6. Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services, Long Beach, CA, USA

    Deborah Owens Collins

  7. Azusa Pacific Seminary, Azusa, CA, USA

    Michael A. Mata

  8. Bryant Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Clyde W. Oden

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  1. Kathryn P. Derose
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  2. Beth Ann Griffin
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  3. David E. Kanouse
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Correspondence to Kathryn P. Derose.

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Derose, K.P., Griffin, B.A., Kanouse, D.E. et al. Effects of a Pilot Church-Based Intervention to Reduce HIV Stigma and Promote HIV Testing Among African Americans and Latinos. AIDS Behav 20, 1692–1705 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-015-1280-y

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