Soul City Institute for Social Justice, 1 Newtown Avenue, Killarney, Johannesburg, South Africa.
School of Social Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Jan Smuts Ave, Johannesburg, South Africa.
BMC Public Health. 2021 Dec 11;21(1):2259. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-12281-8.
HIV education targeting children and adolescents is a key component of HIV prevention. This is especially important in the context of increasing HIV prevalence rates among adolescents and young people. The authors sought to examine the role and effectiveness of an extra-curricular school based programme, Soul Buddyz Clubs (SBC) on HIV knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and biomedical outcomes.
This paper employs a mixed methods approach drawing on data from independent qualitative and quantitative sources. Secondary data analysis was performed using survey data from a nationally representative sample that was restricted to 10-14 year-old males and females living in South Africa. Ten focus group discussions and ten in-depth interviews conducted with SBC members and facilitators from 5 provinces, as part of a process evaluation are used to triangulate the effectiveness of SBC intervention.
The analysis of survey data from 2 198 children indicated that 12% of respondents were exposed to SBC with 4% reporting that they had ever belonged to a club. Children exposed to SBC were more likely to be medically circumcised (AOR 2.38; 95%CI 1.29 -4.40, p=0.006), had correct HIV knowledge (AOR 2.21; 95%CI 1.36 - 3.57, p<0.001) and had less HIV stigmatising attitudes (AOR 0.54; 95%CI 0.31-0.93, p=0.025), adjusting for age, sex, province and exposure to other media - in comparison to those not exposed. Propensity Score Matching findings were consistent with the regression findings. Qualitative findings also supported some of the quantitative results. SBC members reported having learnt about HIV prevention life skills, including condom use, positive attitudes towards people living with HIV, and alcohol abuse.
Participation in SBC is associated with accessing biomedical HIV prevention services, specifically MMC, correct HIV prevention knowledge and less HIV stigmatizing attitudes. This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of a school-based extracurricular intervention using a club approach targeting boys and girls ages 10-14 years on some of the key HIV prevention biomarkers as well as knowledge and attitudes. The article suggests that extra-curricular interventions can form an effective component of school-based comprehensive sexuality education in preventing HIV and promoting medical male circumcision.
针对儿童和青少年的艾滋病教育是艾滋病预防的一个关键组成部分。在青少年和年轻人中艾滋病感染率不断上升的背景下，这一点尤为重要。作者试图探讨课外学校为基础的方案，Soul Buddyz 俱乐部（SBC）在艾滋病知识、态度、行为和生物医学结果方面的作用和效果。
本文采用混合方法，借鉴独立的定性和定量来源的数据。使用来自全国代表性样本的调查数据进行二次数据分析，该样本仅限于居住在南非的 10-14 岁男女。使用来自 5 个省份的 SBC 成员和辅导员进行的 10 个焦点小组讨论和 10 个深入访谈，作为过程评估的一部分，用于三角剖分 SBC 干预的效果。
对来自 2198 名儿童的调查数据进行分析表明，有 12%的受访者接触过 SBC，其中 4%的人报告曾参加过俱乐部。接触过 SBC 的儿童更有可能接受医学包皮环切术（AOR 2.38；95%CI 1.29-4.40，p=0.006），具有正确的艾滋病知识（AOR 2.21；95%CI 1.36-3.57，p<0.001）和较少的艾滋病污名化态度（AOR 0.54；95%CI 0.31-0.93，p=0.025），在调整年龄、性别、省份和接触其他媒体的情况下与未接触者相比。倾向评分匹配结果与回归结果一致。定性结果也支持了一些定量结果。SBC 成员报告说，他们已经学习了艾滋病预防生活技能，包括使用避孕套、对艾滋病毒感染者的积极态度以及酗酒。
参加 SBC 与获得生物医学艾滋病预防服务有关，特别是 MMC、正确的艾滋病预防知识和减少艾滋病污名化态度。本文展示了一种基于学校的课外干预措施的有效性，该措施使用俱乐部方法针对 10-14 岁的男孩和女孩，针对一些关键的艾滋病预防生物标志物以及知识和态度。文章表明，课外干预可以成为学校综合性教育的有效组成部分，有助于预防艾滋病和促进男性割礼。
