1. An AdApted curriculum bAsed
on Focus on Kids

2.  Focus on Youth is a community-based 8-
session HIV, STD and pregnancy prevention
intervention for African American youth. It
provides youth with the skills and knowledge
to make healthy decisions that will prevent
unplanned pregnancy, HIV and other sexually
transmitted diseases. The curriculum uses
fun, interactive activities such as games, role
plays and discussions, and community
projects to convey prevention knowledge and
skills. The intervention was updated
from Focus on Kids, a community-university
linked research and intervention program.

3.  Focus on Youth includes information and
skills about: decision making, values, how
to access information, communication,
negotiation, goals for the future, teen
pregnancy, abstinence, contraception,
STD, HIV, alcohol and other drug use, and
facts about a healthy sexual lifestyle.

4.  The most current edition of Focus on
Youth (2009) provides updated information
and more tools to facilitate implementation
and increase the relevance of the program
for African-American youth between ages 12
and 15 who are at risk for HIV infection.
Eight agencies were selected to participate
in a pilot of the Focus on Youth revision.
Over a 6-month period, each of the agencies
piloted the new program with 8-10 youth.
Their feedback has been incorporated in the
final version.

5.  In the spring of 1993, African American youth were
recruited from nine recreation centers associated
with three public housing developments to attend
eight weekly sessions of an AIDS risk reduction
intervention. Grounded in a social-cognitive theory
(Protection Motivation Theory) and developed to be
culturally appropriate for the target audience, the
intervention provided facts about HIV and AIDS and
emphasized skills development with regard to
communication, decision making, and condom use.
The youth formed intervention groups consisting of
two to 10 same-gender friends who were within three
years of age of each other. In addition to condom use
and abstinence, avoidance of substance use and drug
trafficking were emphasized in the curriculum.

6.  The 76 naturally formed peer groups consisting of 383
African American youth were randomly assigned to
receive the Focus on Kids intervention (n=206) or a
control condition (n=177). The control condition
consisted of eight sessions which provided facts about
HIV and AIDS prevention but did not emphasize skills
development with regard to negotiation,
communication or condom use and was not delivered
to the naturally occurring groups of friends.
 Participants completed questionnaires via a "talking"
Macintosh computer at baseline and six months after
the intervention. Measures assessed actual risk
behaviors, perceptions of risk behaviors, and
intentions.

7.  At baseline, condom use rates did not differ
significantly between the intervention and
control groups. However, at the six-month
follow-up, rates were significantly higher
among the intervention group than the
control group (85% versus 61%, P<.05). The
intervention was especially strong among
boys (85% versus 57%, P<.05) and among
teens aged 13 to 15 years (95% versus 60%,
P<.01).

8.  Youth did not differ in their intentions to use
condoms at baseline, but in the post-
intervention period, intervention youth were
significantly more likely than control youth
to intend to use a condom. Likewise, in the
post-intervention period, intervention youth
perceived greater peer use of condoms and
increased personal vulnerability to HIV.

9.  At the completion of the program, youth will be able to:
 State correct information about HIV and other STDs
including modes of transmission and prevention.
 State correct information about abstinence and various
methods of contraception including the correct way to use
condoms.
 Identify their own personal values and understand how
their values relate to decisions about relationships,
sexuality and sexual risk behaviors.
 Be skilled in communicating and negotiating with other
youth regarding sexual topics and in decision making that
supports sexual health.


10. Focus on Youth includes the following features that
distinguish it from other HIV and STD prevention
curriculum
 It serves African American youth, ages 12-15, in
community-based settings.
 It is designed for small groups of no more than 6-10 youth.
 It uses two skilled facilitators, with at least one matching
the ethnicity of the majority of the participants.
 It makes use of naturally occurring friendship groups to
strengthen peer support of alternatives to risky activities.
 It uses culturally and linguistically appropriate interactive
activities, such as games, role plays, discussions and
community projects.
 It includes a “family tree” to contextualize and
personalize abstract concepts e.g., decision-making and
risk assessment.

11.  Focus on Youth is based on the Protection
Motivation Theory, a social cognitive theory
which emphasizes the balance between
pressures to engage in the risk behavior, the
risks involved, and the consideration of
alternatives.
 An example of this would be a youth named Jamal is
being pressured to run a train on Heather(who is drunk)
with his boys……utilizing this theory, Jamal would be
able to assess the risk(this involves multiple modes of
transmission, many dudes and a chick who may turn
around and accuse rape!!)…..maybe I am better off
with calling Pat, who I know will be down to get it in
and let me bring a condom while I'm at it.

12. Focus on Youth addresses each of these critical
elements of the theory by:
 Providing opportunities to consider the personal and social
rewards (pressures) of engaging in sexual risk-taking
behavior. Through all its varied learning activities, youth learn to
create positive feelings about themselves without engaging in risky
behaviors. In addition, in Session Two, youth dispel the myth that all
peers approve of risky behavior.
 Examining the health risks involved in unprotected sexual
behavior. Sessions Two, Three, Four and Seven increase youth's
awareness of their vulnerability to HIV, STD, and unplanned
pregnancy if they engage in sexual risk-taking behaviors and their
knowledge about the difficulties of living with HIV.
 Identifying the alternatives to sexual risk-taking behavior. Through
the SODA Decision Making model, the Family Tree Activities, and role
play activities, youth learn to consider the alternatives to risk-taking
behavior and practice decision making, communication and condom
use skills necessary to act on healthy decisions.

13. Core Elements
 Core elements are those parts of an
intervention that must be done and cannot
be changed. They come from the behavioral
theory upon which the intervention or
strategy is based; they are thought to be
responsible for the intervention’s
effectiveness. Core elements are essential
and cannot be ignored, deleted, or changed.

14.  Deliver intervention to youth in community-
based settings.
 Use two skilled facilitators to model
communication, negotiation and refusal skills
for the youth.
 Use “friendship” or venue-based groups
(i.e., a basketball team, a scout troop,
 church group, an existing youth group) to
strengthen peer support.

15.  Use culturally appropriate interactive activities proven as
effective learning strategies to help youth capture the
important constructs in the theory.
 Include a “family tree” to contextualize and personalize
abstract concepts, such as decision-making and risk
assessment. In this activity, youth are given a skeleton of
a family tree and asked to create the circumstances of and
the relationships between the family members. The
characters in the family are used throughout the
curriculum to put decision-making into a personal context
for the youth.
 Enable participants to learn and practice a decision-
making model such as Stop, Options, Decide and Act
(SODA).
 Train participants in assertive communication and refusal
skills specifically related to negotiation of abstinence or
safer sex.
 Teach youth proper condom use skills

16. Focus on Youth has the following key characteristics:
 Include between 6 and 10 youth in the program.
 New members should not join once the series of sessions has
begun. If youth join after first session, a make-up session should
be offered.
 Each session should last approximately 90-120 minutes
 Use skilled facilitators who are the same gender as the youth
target population.
 Have at least one facilitator who is of the same race and
ethnicity as the majority of the participants.
 Embed culturally and linguistically based activities for the target
population.
 Form groups that contain members of the same gender and age
group. Youth groups should have no more than a 3-year age
difference between members in a group.
 Inform parents about the program and its goals and activities,
and tell them that
 they should sign a parental permission form

18.  Focus on Youth includes the following 8 sessions:
Session 1:
Trust Building and Group Cohesion
Session 2:
Risks and Values
Session 3:
Educate Yourself: Obtaining Information
Session 4:
Educate Yourself: Examining Consequences
Session 5:
Building Skills: Communication
Session 6:
Information About Sexual Health
Session 7:
Attitudes and Skills for Sexual Health
Session 8:
Review and Community Project

19.  Art and crafts
 Exercises
 Games
 Group discussion
 Lecture
 Risk reduction supplies (condoms)
 Role play
 Social event
 Storytelling
 Video

20. Purpose: To establish a cohesive group, set
ground rules and allow youth to begin
learning skills for decision making.
 Key Message: The decisions you make as an
adolescent affect you when you become an
adult.

21. Purpose: Youth will examine risk behaviors and look at why they
might feel invincible or invulnerable in order to understand
how this can place them at risk for HIV/STD or
unplanned pregnancy. In addition, youth will identify their values
through discussion,
ranking and voting activities.
Key Messages:
 Certain situations can make individuals feel invulnerable and
invincible. This can cause them to make decisions that could lead
to unwanted pregnancy or contracting HIV.
 Everyone has different values and it is okay to listen to different
points of view.
 Identifying and ranking personal values, as well as developing an
understanding of those with differing values, helps with decision
making.
 Knowing your values can help you make decisions to prevent HIV
and other STD

22. Purpose: Youth will learn ways to obtain
information in order to make good
decisions by applying the decision-making
model and researching answers to
questions.
Key Messages:
 Being informed about local resources and
HIV and STD prevention can aid in the
decision-making process.
 Discussing HIV and other STD prevention
with parents or guardians promotes
healthy choices.

23. Purpose: Youth will learn how to weigh the
positive and negative consequences of options
as they make decisions. Session provides
skills-building through condom demonstration.
Key Messages:
 Understanding proper steps for condom use and
being comfortable with saying you want to use
condoms increases the chances of actually using
them.
 Understanding the good consequences (pros) and
bad consequences (cons) of various options can
help you make better decisions.

24. Purpose: Youth will learn communication and negotiation
skills to assist in carrying out responsible decisions.
Participants practice aggressive, assertive and non-
assertive communication styles.
Key messages:
 Understanding that certain styles of communication can
help your point of view be better understood by others.
 Using body language to enhance communication with
others.
 Understanding the importance of being aware of the
nonverbal messages others are communicating.
 Understanding the consequences of miscommunication and
ways to avoid it

25. Purpose: Youth will engage in role-play to explore various ways
to show they care without having sex and will learn
information about sexual health.
Key Messages:
 Understanding that sex is a normal, healthy part of life, but it is
important to wait to have sex in a way that is safe, healthy and in line
with one’s values.
 Learning that there are many ways to show one cares without having
sexual intercourse.
 Understanding the advantages, disadvantages and effectiveness of each
method of contraception.
 Purpose: The retreat offers an opportunity for boys' and girls' groups to work together as well be inspired by an
outside speaker.
 Sample Agenda:
 Introduction Game and Opening Ritual
 Review of Session 5
 Ways to Show You Care
 HIV Transmission Game
 Recreational Activities
 Lunch

26. Purpose: Youth will learn attitudes and skills that
support sexual health through listening to a speaker,
completing a goal-setting activity and role-playing
refusal and negotiation skills.
Key Messages:
 Understanding that there is value in setting both long‐term
and short‐term goals and tracking your progress toward
reaching those goals.
 Understanding the process and consequences of decision
making and self‐awareness of values and goals to avoid or
prevent obstacles.
 Recognizing that while some obstacles to goals cannot be
prevented, having solutions for each obstacle including the
presence of supportive people are keys to reaching goals.

27. Purpose: Youth will build self-efficacy about HIV/STD
prevention through analyzing their concerns and how
they can take responsibility; testing their HIV
knowledge, affirming each other and planning
community projects.
Key Messages:
 Reviewing the components of safer‐decision
making about sex and other important
decisions, taking responsibility for one’s
actions and effective communication.
 Recognizing the potential for being a positive
force in the community.

28. Purpose: To build increased monitoring and communication skills
for parents, and enhance parent-child relationships.
 Format: Parent’s home, preferably; however, a private space at
the agency can also be considered.
 Timing: Preferably before the first session or by the third session
in order to set the stage for youth and their parents to discuss
and learn what the program is about.
 Who Should Attend: one or both parents can participate with
their child.
 Childcare: Agencies should make provision for childcare if the
intervention cannot be delivered at the parent’s home.
 Vignette activities: The facilitator may make changes to the
names or locations in the vignettes to make them more relevant
to their group.
 Refreshments: Agencies should provide light refreshments.

29. During this session, the facilitator will :
 Explain the purpose of the session.
 Review the purpose of the Focus on Youth intervention.
 Conduct an icebreaker activity.
 Provide HIV 101 information.
 Show and discuss parent documentary.
 Demonstrate the steps for proper condom use.
 Conduct the condom demonstration game or condom use card
activity.
 Engage parents and their child in role‐playing of various
vignettes.
 Ask parents and youth for questions related to any of the
activities or the intervention.
 Review with parents some basic tips about communicating with
their youth about abstinence, sex, HIV, and condoms.

30.  The Focus on Youth parent documentary is short
film documentary designed to teach parents
effective ways to talk to their teenaged children
about sex and HIV/AIDS. The video stresses the
importance of open communication between
parents and teens. This video tackles these
issues head‐on in an effort to increase open and
honest communications with the teenage
children before they start having sex. The film
allows teens, their parents and experts to talk
openly about their feelings about sex and
HIV/AIDS. The film shows these topics through
various points of view, including teens, parents
and educators.