Development of a theory-based sexual and reproductive health promotion and HIV prevention program for Chinese early adolescents.

The purpose of this study was to develop a theory-based program for Chinese early adolescents in order to promote their sexual and reproductive health and to prevent HIV infection. The program was designed based on the Information-Motivation-Behavioral skills model and a needs assessment among the stakeholders. A technical collaborative action research approach was applied. The study's participants were 102 early adolescents in a public middle school in mainland China, with the involvement of other key stakeholders, including 15 teachers and 12 parents. The results revealed a statistically significant improvement in the scores of sexual and reproductive health promotion and HIV prevention information, motivation, and behavioral skills after the program's implementation. Meanwhile, qualitative data from the early adolescents' reflection indicated that the content was useful and comprehensive, the trainers were friendly and knowledgeable, and participatory learning with an "edutainment" style was especially impressive. Additionally, the early adolescents expressed that they could apply the knowledge and skills in their daily life, which would benefit themselves and their family and peers. The Information-Motivation-Behavioral skills model could be explored in a non-Western context and the program was shown to be acceptable for use in a Chinese middle school setting.

Information and cervical screening: a qualitative study of women's awareness, understanding and information needs about HPV.

OBJECTIVES: To explore women's attitudes towards the information about human papilloma virus (HPV) provided during cervical screening and to describe women's HPV information needs. SETTING: Women with a range of screening results (normal, inadequate, borderline and abnormal) were identified by three screening centres in England. Two consecutive samples of women attending for colposcopy for the first time following screening were also approached. METHODS: Seven focus groups were conducted between May 2005 and April 2006 with 38 women who had recently been for cervical screening or had attended a colposcopy appointment. RESULTS: Most women had no prior awareness of HPV. Many women queried the importance of being informed about HPV as no preventive advice or treatment is available. The HPV information included in the UK national screening programme abnormal result leaflet left women with more questions than answers (a list of unanswered questions is included with the results). Further information was requested about HPV detection, infection and transmission as well as the natural history and progression of cervical cancer. No consensus was reached regarding the best time to provide HPV information. CONCLUSIONS: Clear communication of the complicated issues surrounding HPV infection and the natural history of cervical cancer is a considerable educational challenge for screening providers. As awareness of HPV becomes more widespread and HPV testing is explored as a triage during cervical screening, women are likely to require more information about the virus and the implications of infection. Consideration should be given to the production of a separate national screening programme HPV leaflet.

Border testimonials: patterns of AIDS awareness across the island of New Guinea.

This paper compares and contrasts two similar sets of data about AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) and AIDS awareness from the island of New Guinea. The goal of this comparison is to show that state policies and values can dramatically affect personal knowledge about safer sexual practices. One set was collected in 2001 in the Indonesian province of Papua, which is home to indigenous Papuans and many inmigrating Indonesians. The second set was collected in 1991-1992 in the independent state of Papua New Guinea (PNG). Papuans and Papua New Guineans share many sexual beliefs and cultural practices and have experienced similar effects of modernization, but we show that there are marked differences in public knowledge about AIDS and condoms. In general, Papuan respondents know less about condoms and use them less frequently than their PNG counterparts. We argue that a colonial form of government in Papua makes it more difficult to design culturally appropriate and effective programs.