Donna L. Higgins

Behavioral Journalism for HIV Prevention: Community Newsletters Influence Risk-Related Attitudes and Behavior

Research teams in five cities used behavioral journalism to promote condom use and injection hygiene (use of bleach to clean shared injection equipment) among subpopulations at risk for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. For three years, HIV-prevention campaigns were conducted in which newsletters containing stories about peer models were distributed in selected communities. We report exposure to the campaigns across time, the cognitive and behavioral effects of increasing degrees of exposure, and the degree to which other sources of HIV information reached these communities. After one year, campaigns reached approximately 40 percent to 80 percent of the intended audiences. The reported number of campaign exposures was associated with theoretical cognitive determinants of behavior change and with risk-reduction behavior in communities that were not being effectively reached by other HIV prevention messages.