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

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.

Church-Based HIV Screening in Racial/Ethnic Minority Communities of California, 2011-2012.

Community-based human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing at religious congregations has been proposed as a potentially effective way to increase screening among disproportionately affected populations, such as those self-identifying as African American and Latino. Although congregations may provide reach into these communities, the extent to which church-based HIV testing alleviates access barriers, identifies new cases, and reaches people at increased risk for HIV is not well documented. We examined the results of an HIV testing program that was conducted as part of a larger intervention aimed at reducing HIV stigma at five churches in Los Angeles County, California, in 2011-2012. HIV screening identified one positive result in 323 tests but reached a substantial proportion of people who had not been tested before, including many who lacked health insurance. Although this approach may not be an efficient way to identify cases of previously unknown HIV infection, it could help achieve universal testing goals.

An intervention to reduce HIV-related stigma in partnership with African American and Latino churches.

HIV-related stigma negatively affects prevention and care, and community-based interventions are needed. Here we describe the development of a multi-ethnic, faith-based intervention to reduce HIV stigma that included: educational workshops on HIV, testing, and stigma; peer leader workshops using role plays and drawing on principles of motivational interviewing; a pastor-delivered sermon on HIV that incorporated theological reflection and an imagined contact scenario; and congregation-based HIV testing events. Lessons learned include: partnership development is essential and requires substantial investment; tailoring intervention components to single race-ethnic groups may not be preferable in diverse community settings; and adapting testing processes to be able to serve larger numbers of people in shorter time frames is needed for congregational settings. This development process successfully combined the rigorous application of social science theory and community engagement to yield a multifaceted HIV stigma reduction intervention appropriate for Protestant and Catholic churches in African American and Latino communities.