Among 15-24-year-old African American women, does health education and counseling compared to condom distribution lead to increased condom use over a period of six months?
This project is instigated by the high prevalence of chlamydia among 15-24-year-old African American women. It is, therefore, imperative to encourage healthy behavior within this population. I aim to encourage condom use as a healthy behavior through health education and counseling. Calvalho et al. (2011) indicated the essence of a combined behavioral therapy to promote healthy behavior; thus, my preferred health intervention is health education in combination with counseling. My project targets young African American women in deprived neighborhoods where access to relevant and healthy information is a challenge. I will conduct an experimental study that will aim to compare health education and counseling versus condom distribution in encouraging healthy sexual behavior. The reason for choosing condom distribution as a comparator is to demystify the highly held notion that increased access to condoms encourages the level of sexual activity among young adults and encourages engagement in early sexual activity. The study will be a randomized controlled trial to increase its validity in indicating differences between and among groups based on the interventions given. Randomized trials are deemed the most effective means through which cause and effect can be deduced.
References
Carvalho, F. T., Gonçalves, T. R., Faria, E. R., Shoveller, J. A., Piccinini, C. A., Ramos, M. C., Medeiros, L.R. (2011). Behavioral interventions to promote condom use among women living with HIV. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Issue 9. Art. No.: CD007844. Web.