Two CTN studies
involving researchers and community treatment providers in the Pacific NW Node,
in conjunction with programs in other states, have produced manuals that guide
clinicians in the implementation of evidence-based interventions for reducing
sexual risk behavior among men and women in substance abuse treatment. Evergreen
Treatment Services (Seattle) participated in both studies.
Don
Calsyn, PhD (ADAI) was the lead investigator for CTN-0018, Reducing HIV/STD
Risk Behaviors: A Research Study for Men in Drug Abuse Treatment. The manual Real Men
Are Safe (REMAS): A Gender-Focused HIV and Sexual Risk Reduction
Intervention for Men in Substance Abuse Treatment is a five-session, group-delivered intervention package designed
to help clients in substance abuse treatment reduce their HIV risk. Outcomes from CTN-0018 found that the this
motivational and skills training HIV intervention was associated with greater
sexual risk reduction than a standard HIV education session, suggesting that
substance abuse treatment programs can help reduce sexual risk among their
patients by providing not only information, but also practice skills.
Directed by Susan Tross, PhD in New York, CTN-0019 led
to the development of the manual, Safer Sex Skills
Building: A Manual for HIV/STD Safer Sex Skills Groups for Women in Outpatient
Substance Abuse Treatment. This
is also a five-session intervention package, focusing on the importance of
changing high-risk behaviors and teaching women the social and technical skills
necessary to keep them from engaging in these high-risk behaviors, including
skills intended to help women protect themselves from partner abuse as the
potential result of assertiveness around safer sex.
The manuals
were formatted for publication by CTN Dissemination Librarian Meg Brunner (PN
Node), and are now available to download for free from the Library’s web site.
The manuals come with slides for flip charts used in the interventions, and a
participants’ workbook is provided with the women’s manual. Questions about
either manual may be directed to the developers.
