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Introduction
Developing and Evaluating an Intervention Plan
Elements of an Intervention Plan
References and Resources
Appendix A: Interventions With Scientific Evidence of Effectiveness
Appendix B: Example Forms to Summarize Intervention Plan Data
Introduction
An intervention plan is the blueprint for implementing an HIV prevention
intervention. For instance, one would not build a house without planning its
intended features, assessing whether those combined features would produce the
house desired, and ensuring that needed resources were available to build it.
Likewise, HIV prevention services should not be undertaken without an explicit
plan that describes the intended intervention, justifies the elements chosen to
achieve desired outcomes, and ensures that staffing and other resources are
adequate for implementation. Careful development and review of intervention
plans are concrete steps to ensure that HIV prevention interventions are
relevant to the community, scientifically sound, feasible, and meet standards
established by health departments.
| Intervention An
intervention is a specific activity (or set of related
activities) intended to bring about HIV risk reduction in a particular target population using a common method of delivering the prevention messages. An intervention has distinct process and outcome objectives and a protocol outlining the steps for implementation.
- Example: An individual-level counseling intervention may be comprised of four related sessions, but they are all
provided in a clinic through
one-on-one interaction.
Program:
A program is a distinction often used by an agency to
describe a related set of interventions serving a particular
population.
- Example: The Men's Education Network (MEN)
program consists of an individual-level counseling
intervention, a social marketing campaign, and outreach in
bars based on the peer opinion
|
The intervention plan serves as the reference point for the provider
proposing the intervention and for the health department. Often, it is the heart
of a proposal for funding and refined during negotiations with the health
department until an agreed-upon version becomes incorporated into contract
requirements. For the provider, the intervention plan is the template for
organizing and deploying resources, for determining the content of work, and,
eventually, for assessing whether the interventions have met their goals. Many
CBOs that provide excellent service and save many lives may not be adept at
documenting their accomplishments. The intervention plan is a first step to help
them get credit for their work and become even more effective.
For the health department, the plan serves as the implementation standard for
which the provider is accountable. It establishes some of the criteria for
contract monitoring and alerts the health department to the provider’s potential
technical assistance needs.
Because these are such vital functions, CDC Announcement 99004 emphasizes the
importance of evaluating intervention plans as a necessary foundation for the
funding and implementation of HIV prevention interventions. Examination of the
strengths and weaknesses of crucial elements in the intervention plan allows
health departments to guide providers in the improvement of programs and
increases accountability to all stakeholders in the HIV prevention community. In
theory, if the intervention has a sound intervention plan, is science-based, and
is implemented as intended, it is likely to lead to reductions in clients’ risk
behaviors. Figure 3.1 illustrates this hypothetical relationship; Chapter 4 will
address the evaluation of program implementation that can help increase the
likelihood that desired results will be achieved.
Figure 3.1. The intervention plan is the initial reference point for
implementation and subsequent prevention outcomes.
| HIV Prevention Intervention Plan |
|
 |
| HIV Prevention Intervention Implementation |
|
 |
| Behavioral Risk Reduction for HIV Prevention |
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To maximize the soundness of intervention plans, a standardized evaluation of
intervention plans should:
- Provide explicit criteria—agreed upon within the jurisdiction—to be
used when making decisions about the quality of proposed interventions and
programs.
- Allow reviewers to apply those criteria consistently when assessing
proposals.
- Offer a systematic means for providing feedback for improvement of
intervention plans.
- Ensure that the intended characteristics of the intervention are clearly
expressed so that they can be referenced during the assessment of
intervention implementation (This is described in
Chapter 4).
Purposes of the Chapter
The intervention plan is produced through a dynamic process of development,
review, and refinement. The steps in Figure 3.2 comprise typical cycles for an
intervention plan in the context of funding by the health department.
Following these assumptions, this chapter provides guidance on 1) the basic
components of an intervention plan, 2) the features of high quality
interventions, and 3) the use of intervention plan evaluations for improving
intervention designs and as a reference point during process and outcome
evaluation.
Figure 3.2
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Developing and Evaluating an Intervention Plan
Framework of an Intervention Plan
An intervention plan serves three primary functions: it provides a rationale,
a description, and an operational plan for a specific HIV prevention
intervention. The ultimate objectives of each intervention are to affect various
determinants of risky behavior (e.g., to increase use of condoms or to increase
awareness of the risks of sharing injection works) and to reduce the
transmission of HIV within the intervention’s target population. To achieve
these objectives, each intervention—whether an individual counseling model, a
street outreach program, or a media campaign—must be designed with attention to
specific characteristics that comprise an intervention plan. Under the framework
of theory-driven evaluation (Chen, 1990), these intervention characteristics can
be grouped into the following six categories. This chapter will describe each
category and its corresponding elements.
- Specifying the target populations
- Choosing interventions
- Establishing intervention goals and outcome objectives
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- Developing an implementation strategy and process objectives
- Assessing characteristics of the implementing organization
- Describing the data system
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Evaluation Criteria for Each Category
For each of these categories of intervention characteristics, there are
various ways of assessing the merits of the specific characteristics included in
the intervention plan. First, there are two broad criteria that should be
considered:
Relevance. Relevance refers to the extent to which an intervention
plan addresses the needs of affected populations in the jurisdiction and of
other community stakeholders. The community’s needs—determined during the needs
assessment component of HIV prevention community planning—should be reflected as
discrete interventions for specific populations. Thus, consistency between
proposed interventions and the jurisdiction’s comprehensive HIV prevention plan
is one primary aspect of relevance.
However, as will be noted in the discussions of each category, while
consistency with the comprehensive HIV prevention plan is necessary, it may not
be sufficient without assurance that the intervention design and implementation
address other needs. For instance, the particular implementation of an
intervention must be culturally competent for, and accessible to, its intended
audience. In some cases, the needs assessment used for a comprehensive plan may
not have addressed the specific needs of that population within a particular
area of the jurisdiction. In this scenario, the intervention plan should address
this greater level of specificity. For instance, “MSM” may be a priority
population noted in the comprehensive HIV prevention plan, but young gay men of
color may be the primary subset of MSM who need services. An intervention plan
should describe the particular needs of this population and the ways in which
the proposed intervention will meet those needs.
Scientific Soundness. This criterion considers the scientific
foundation of each characteristic covered in the intervention plan. As used
here, “science” does not refer to an academic study of the characteristics;
rather, it is used to emphasize the need for clear and logical evidence to
support the inclusion of a specific characteristic, strategy, or approach in the
design and implementation of the intervention. Such an approach usually assumes
that some type of systematized knowledge is applied in the conception,
development, and choice of intervention components. That knowledge may be based
on traditional scientific sources of information (e.g., looking to the
scientific literature for “what works”), but it also includes the use of
systematic operational data (e.g., staffing patterns or steps in implementing
the intervention) maintained by an agency and used as evidence to support the
continued use or refinement of particular aspects of the intervention.
Scientific soundness also refers to the application of behavioral and social
science theories developed or adapted by the provider agency. For purposes here,
a theory is a statement of the hypothesized relationships between what a
provider proposes to do and how those activities will affect HIV risk behaviors
in the service area. The section on Choosing Interventions provides more
discussion on the use of formal and informal theory. In summary, a theory
describes the projected relationships between a problem or need, an
intervention, the hypothesized effects of the intervention, and desired
outcomes. An intervention plan that specifies how an intervention will affect
risk behaviors through these relationships is more scientific than one that does
not address how the intervention is believed to work. Similarly, an intervention
plan that clearly states the steps that will be followed to implement the
intervention is more scientifically sound than one that does not provide an
adequate level of detail about its implementation.
Both relevance and scientific soundness criteria should be regarded as
integral parts of a high quality intervention plan. On the one hand, an
intervention plan without relevance is useless to stakeholders and may lead to
an inappropriate allocation of limited resources. On the other hand, a relevant
intervention that is not carefully specified and based on scientific evidence
will not be as likely to yield positive benefits for the population it is
intended to serve.
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Elements of an Intervention Plan
Specifying the Target Population
An intervention plan should contain a description of the target population
for whom the intervention is intended. One of the foundations of HIV prevention
community planning is the setting of priorities among target populations in a
jurisdiction. There is an assumption that a substantial portion of health
department resources will be allocated to these high priority populations. In
some cases, the comprehensive HIV prevention plan may provide detailed outlines
of target populations (e.g., “gay youth of color residing in the 5-Points
area”). In others, the comprehensive HIV prevention plan will be more general,
requiring an intervention plan to define more narrowly who will be served by
specific activities. Issues to consider when specifying the target population in
an intervention plan are shown in Table 3.1.
Table 3.1
| Target Population Specification |
- Correspondence to a high priority population noted in the
comprehensive HIV prevention plan
- Proportion of target population that engages in specific risk behaviors (especially if population is defined by race,
ethnicity, or other non-risk related identifier)
- Culture and norms
- Predominant languages
- Education and literacy
- Competing economic or social needs
- Predominant media channels used
|
Demographics. A description of the target population needs to include the
risk factors and demographics of the target population as well as the extent of the population
that will be reached by the intervention (often referred to as coverage). The basic
demographics of age, race, ethnicity, and sex can provide insight into developmental, cultural, and sex-specific issues
that the intervention will need to account for. The intervention description can also include other
relevant details about the audience that inform the tailoring of the intervention. For example, the plan
might discuss the languages and social or behavioral norms that are common to the service area.
Consideration of education and literacy is critical, especially when written materials are
proposed as part of the intervention approach.
Risk Factors. It is critical to identify the specific risk factors that
affect the audience. Most important is the clarification of the route of transmission of HIV that they are
exposed to. A simple classification for these risks is based on the system used for HIV and AIDS
surveillance:
Table 3.2
| Risk Population Exposure |
Route and Risk Behaviors |
| Men who have sex with men |
Unprotected sex between men that results in exposure to semen or
blood |
| Injection drug users |
Use of needles, syringes, or preparation materials by two or more
people |
| MSM and IDU |
Risks through both sex with other men and injection drug use |
| Women who are risk for or infected with HIV who are pregnant or who
may become pregnant |
Transmission to the baby prenatally, during delivery, or through
breast-feeding |
Heterosexual sex with someone at risk for or
infected with HIV |
Unprotected vaginal or anal sex between a man and woman that results
in exposure to semen or blood |
| Other |
- Tattooing
- Sex toy sharing between women who have sex with other women
|
| General Public |
No specific risk for HIV, but often the target of broad prevention
or education efforts to increase awareness or change community norms |
The specific audience to be served may also have economic or social needs
that are different from the general audience described in the comprehensive HIV
prevention plan. For instance, the comprehensive HIV prevention plan may list
“injection drug users” as a high priority population, yet in a particular city,
young methamphetamine users may be the majority of IDUs. Among these
methamphetamine users, there may be low employment and high IDU-on-IDU crime.
These unique issues should be taken into account in the intervention plan.
| Coverage The extent to which an intervention
is reaching its intended target population |
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Audience Coverage. Another consideration in developing an intervention
is determining the relationship of how much of the target population will be
reached. For instance, a provider may believe that there are 300 injection drug
users in her jurisdiction, but that she can only reasonably expect to reach 50
of them with case management services during one fiscal year. Specification of
the expected coverage provides a goal to which the provider and her funders can
refer when determining if the intervention reached the intended number and types
of individuals.
The relevance and scientific soundness criteria for evaluating choice of
target populations are reviewed in Table 3.3.
Table 3.3
| Risk Population Exposure |
Route and Risk Behaviors |
| Relevance |
The comprehensive HIV prevention plan is the primary basis for
measuring target population relevance. Relevance, in this case, is
primarily the extent to which the population targeted in the
intervention plan is consistent with the target population in the
comprehensive HIV prevention plan. |
| Scientific Soundness |
In the context of target populations, scientific soundness refers to
the extent to which the intended target population is clearly defined.
In addition, discussion and accommodation of the cultural and
environmental issues specific to the intervention’s target audience
increases the scientific soundness of the specification of the
population. Furthermore, the strategies to reach the target population
must be well organized and feasible. |
Choosing Interventions
Types of Interventions. An HIV prevention intervention is an organized
activity designed to bring about changes in behaviors, knowledge, attitudes, and
beliefs that put people at risk for HIV infection. CDC’s Announcement 99004
classified three broad categories of interventions and it is expected that most
interventions funded by health departments will fall into one of them. The broad
intervention categories and the most typical examples of prevention activities
are shown in Table 3.4.
Table 3.4
| Intervention Category |
Specific Types of Interventions Within the
Category |
| Health Education/Risk Reduction (HE/RR) |
- Individual-Level Intervention
- Group-Level Intervention
- Community-Level Intervention
|
- Outreach
- Prevention Case Management
|
|
Health communications/Public Information
(HC/PI) |
- Mass & Other Media
- Hotlines
|
|
|
| Counseling, Testing, Referral, & Partner Counseling
and Referral Services |
- HIV Antibody Counseling & Testing
|
- Partner Counseling and Referral Services
|
|
It is important to note that, for purposes here, an HIV prevention
program implemented by a provider may consist of either a single
intervention or two or more interventions serving a particular population. An
intervention is a specific activity (or set of related
activities) intended to bring about HIV risk reduction in a particular
population using a common method of delivering the prevention messages. The
evaluations discussed here require assessing each of the interventions that
comprise a program, making the intervention the unit of analysis.
Figure 3.3
shows a hypothetical example of an array of services that distinguishes between
intervention and program as used here.
For example, an individual counseling intervention may consist of four
sessions of related activities, but they are all provided in a clinic through
one-on-one interaction. Only one intervention plan would be needed for this
counseling intervention. Conversely, a program that contains both street
outreach and a media campaign should have two distinct intervention plans. To
assess the intervention plan quality, one should independently evaluate each of
these plans.
Choosing Interventions on Their Scientific Basis. Several factors will
determine the choice of interventions, but the principles of HIV prevention
community planning assume that the priorities established in the comprehensive
HIV prevention plan will be a driving force in selecting intervention strategies
to fund and implement. The guidance for community planning suggests that
some of the critical factors to consider include the efficacy of the
intervention, its behavioral or social science basis, and its cost
effectiveness. The attention given to science in the guidance for community
planning is not intended to minimize the role of providers’ experience with
their communities, their constituents, and their services. It is intended to
highlight the importance of increasing the extent to which prevention funds are
used for interventions whose effectiveness is known or strongly supported.
Figure 3.3 Distinctions between programs and interventions.

| Strategy An intervention approach recommended by the
community planning group in the comprehensive plan for a specific target
population.
An intervention (i.e. an implemented prevention service) may or may
not correspond to a strategy listed in the comprehensive plan. |
Comprehensive HIV prevention plans should include scientific evidence to
support the intervention strategies that are proposed for each target
population. Evidence of scientific support can be in the form of prior
evaluation data, behavioral and social science theories, and logic models or
similar descriptions of the proposed means by which the intervention is expected
to affect outcomes. However, comprehensive HIV prevention plans provide varying
levels of detail about the evidence supporting the strategies rated as high
priorities; in some cases little or no scientific evidence is cited to support
them. Therefore, provider agencies often need to include documentation about the
scientific basis for the specific interventions they are implementing to ensure
that their interpretation of the strategy is scientifically supported. Table 3.5
summarizes some of the types of evidence that might be used to support the
choice of an intervention.
Table 3.5
| Types of Scientific Evidence That Can Support a Choice of Interventions |
The proposed intervention has
- Undergone previous evaluation
- Used previously evaluated intervention model with a similar
population
- Used previously evaluated intervention model with a different
population
- Applied formal theory in program development
- Applied informal theory in program development
- Used another type of scientific evidence
|
Scientific Support From Prior Evaluations. In some cases, the
intervention proposed has been evaluated during prior implementation (as may be
the case with continuation funding of an intervention). This provides direct,
empirical evidence of the intervention’s efficacy with the same population in
the same setting in which it will be implemented during a particular round of
funding.
Intervention developers can also generalize the findings from evaluations of
similar programs to the situation for which they are planning. For instance, an
intervention originally delivered to IDUs in an urban setting might also be
adapted for IDUs in a more suburban or rural area. Similarly, a community-level
intervention designed to decrease smoking might have some useful components that
can be modified for decreasing unsafe sexual behaviors. The Behavioral
Intervention Research Branch in CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention has
compiled a review of interventions with effectiveness determined through
empirical research to help guide providers in selecting interventions (Figure
3.4 and Appendix A).
Figure 3.4
|
Interventions with Scientific Evidence of Effectiveness
In 1996, CDC began the Prevention Research Synthesis (PRS) project to create
a database of science-based HIV/AIDS intervention studies. Among the several aims of this project is to
identify interventions that have been evaluated using methodologically rigorous designs and have shown
significant positive effects.
Studies were identified in two steps. First, studies were located from the
PRS project using the project’s defined relevance and methodological criteria. Relevance criteria were
applied to select behavioral, social, and policy studies—published or unpublished—reported from 1988 onward,
conducted anywhere in the world, and aimed at reducing sex- or drug-related risk behaviors and HIV/STD
incidence and prevalence rates, irrespective of positive, negative, or null findings. As of July 1999,
the database has approximately 5,000 articles that report on HIV prevention; 200 of these interventions met
the relevance criteria.
Further screening was done based on criteria for methodological rigor. These
criteria were used to ensure selection of behavioral and social interventions that were evaluated using
control or comparison groups and pretest/posttest designs, as well as policy studies with less rigorous
designs. This process identified a subset of 108 primary studies that represent the best available intervention science
meeting the conditions of the PRS project.
Next, additional criteria were applied to identify effective interventions
from among the 108 well-designed studies. These criteria limited the selection to U.S.-based studies with at
least one positive outcome related to HIV risk reduction that showed significant difference between the
intervention and control or comparison groups, with no negative findings, and are “state-of-the-science.”
Twenty-five interventions that met all criteria have been identified. This
collection of studies provides state-of-the-science information about interventions with evidence of reducing sex- or
drug-related risks and the rates of HIV/STD infections. These interventions have shown effectiveness
with a variety of populations, including clinic patients, heterosexual men and women, high risk youth,
incarcerated populations, injection drug users, and men who have sex with men. They have been delivered to
individuals, groups, and communities in settings such as storefronts, gay bars, health centers,
housing communities, and schools. The source citations for the 25 interventions are found in
Appendix A.
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When the populations and settings of prior research are similar to those
for which the intervention will be adopted, evaluators may have greater
confidence in the findings. As the difference in populations, settings, and
circumstances between the planned intervention and the previous setting
increases, more subjective judgments are necessary to assess the validity of
generalizing the scientific basis.
Scientific Support from Theory. Programs that are not objectively
evaluated can still have scientific support. Behavioral, social science,
political, and economic theories may provide frameworks for constructing
specific HIV prevention interventions. A theory is a statement of the
relationships that are believed to exist among a set of needs, activities, and
outcomes. A theory should be stated in a way that enables it (given the time and
resources) to be tested to determine if it holds up under operational
conditions.
Theories can be both formal and informal. A formal theory is
one that has been the topic of publications, forums, and research in the
academic and scientific community. Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura,
1989) and Prochaska and DiClimente’s Stages of Change Model (Prochaska &
DiClemente, 1992; Prochaska, Redding, Harlow, Rossi, & Velicer, 1993) are
examples of formal theories that have been applied to HIV prevention.
“Theory” is sometimes criticized as being “out of touch with reality.”
Informal theories are developed to meet the specific needs of a
particular situation by articulating the relationships between the intervention
components being implemented, the ways that they will affect outcomes, and the
outcomes themselves. Not only is a good theory “in touch” with reality, it
provides logical and realistic connections among a set of needs (e.g., risky
behavior occurs because certain people are unable to negotiate safer sex with
their partners), activities to address those needs (e.g., a communication group
will help participants develop negotiation skills), and the specific outcomes
that those activities will bring about (e.g., greater communication skills
contribute to less risky behavior). Such a description allows the theory to be
tested, making an informal theory a significant tool for intervention design.
The following example (Figure 3.5) shows a graphic formulation of these
relationships for another type of intervention.
Figure 3.5 Statement of an informal theory to support a condom promotion
campaign
Problem/Need: People at risk for HIV do not use
condoms consistently.

Intervention Intensity. An assessment of the proposed intervention
must also take into account whether the intervention will provide a large enough
“dose” to each client to bring about the proposed outcomes. The size of the
“dose” needed (sometimes called the dose effect) is a function of the
strength of the intervention for bringing about a certain level of behavior
change and the amount of exposure necessary to bring about that effect (e.g.,
the minimum number of outreach contacts needed to have an effect on a
neighborhood or the number of individual counseling sessions required to bring
about consistent condom use with 60% of counseling clients). It is difficult to
expect an intervention to have an effect if the strength and duration specified
in the intervention plan is too low. For example, a group counseling
intervention proposing only one 30-minute session may be an insufficient dose to
achieve a desired outcome of consistent condom use by all group participants.
Many providers implement interventions that have been previously evaluated by
others. The original intervention that was evaluated had a specified level of
strength and duration. If that same level of effect is to be expected when using
that original intervention as a model, a similar level of strength and duration
should be built into the intervention. Similarly, newly developed interventions
must specify how much effect is expected and what duration is needed to achieve
that effect (e.g., how many counseling sessions constitute a “dose” or how many
viewings of a public service announcement are necessary to create awareness of
an issue).
Table 3.6 summarizes the relevance and scientific soundness criteria that can
facilitate evaluation of the choice of interventions.
Table 3.6
| Evaluating the Choice of Interventions |
| Relevance |
Interventions that correspond with high priority
strategies in the comprehensive HIV prevention plan reflect the central
issue of HIV prevention community planning: “Does health department
resource allocation mirror the strategies prioritized in the
comprehensive HIV prevention plan?” In terms of relevance, an
intervention that is consistent with a priority in the comprehensive HIV
prevention plan (or a previous needs assessment at the local level) can
be considered relevant to the jurisdiction. |
| Scientific Soundness |
The scientific merit of a proposed intervention can be
evaluated in terms of:
- Whether the intervention has a basis in scientific evidence
- The anticipated strength and duration of the intervention
Scientific evidence can be in the form of prior evaluation or
research that supports the intervention approach or a theory that
provides testable assumptions about the relationship between the
intervention and its intended outcomes. The more similar the populations
and settings of the prior research, the greater the likelihood that the
proposed intervention will be similar to prior research findings. |
Establishing Intervention Goals and Outcome Objectives
To facilitate evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of an intervention,
the intervention plan should include clear and measurable process and outcome
objectives. Process objectives focus on the projected amount,
frequency, and duration of the intervention activities and the number and
characteristics of people to be served; process evaluation is discussed at
length in Chapter 4.
Outcome objectives are statements of the intended effects of the
intervention, such as increasing knowledge about HIV, changing risk-related
behaviors, promoting community norms for safer sex, and reducing HIV
transmission.
When developing outcome objectives, one must consider whether those
objectives can, in fact, be achieved by the proposed intervention. Realistic
assessment of the amount of change that the intervention is likely to bring
about will help determine whether an intervention is the best use of staff time
and financial resources. Assuming that the objectives can be obtained, the
objectives must also be stated in such a way that the projected changes can be
measured objectively—that is, different people measuring the change would get
comparable results.
The goals and objectives for the intervention must meet two other standards.
First, the provider must assess whether it has the resources, staff, and
capability to implement the intervention (i.e. sufficient organizational
capacity). Second, the intervention and its anticipated outcomes must be in
keeping with the target population’s values and norms (i.e. culturally
relevant). Table 3.7 summarizes the characteristics of well-written goals and
objectives.
Table 3.7
| SMART Characteristics of Goals and
Objectives |
| Characteristic |
Questions to guide the development of goals and
objectives |
| Specific |
- Are objectives stated as changes in particular behaviors?
- Is the amount of change expected made explicit?
- Can the changes be achieved through one intervention?
|
| Measurable |
- Can the objective be measured in such a way that the success of
the intervention
can be determined?
- Can these numbers or facts be presented in a report?
- Are there data to compare these data with? (e.g., from a
baseline or a control
group)
|
| Appropriate |
- Are these objectives culturally and educationally appropriate?
- How will this program be accepted by the community?
- Does the intervention fill a gap in current services?
|
| Realistic |
- Are the goals and objectives attainable given the level of risk
and the anticipated
difficulty changing the risk behavior(s)?
- Can the providing agency implement the proposed intervention?
- Are the resources available to achieve the stated objectives?
|
| Time-based |
- Can these objectives be accomplished within the available time
frame?
- Can we reasonably expect to detect changes within this time
frame?
|
Developing An Implementation Strategy and Process Objectives
Following a clarification and justification of the general intervention type,
the intervention plan should describe the specific characteristics of the
intervention. These features represent the “nuts-and-bolts” of the intervention.
In this section of the intervention plan, an agency should provide details about
where the intervention will take place and how the provider will serve the
target population.
Each of the three intervention types (HE/RR, HC/PI, and CTR/PCRS) has fairly
distinct intervention elements. For example, an intervention plan for a social
marketing campaign would need to discuss the distribution channels it would
employ or the community mobilization procedures it would use.
In contrast, an intervention plan for an individual counseling intervention
might describe the activities that would occur in each session with a client
(e.g., risk assessment, determination of stage of readiness to change, or
behavioral contracting).
It is important that the intervention plan be explicit about the type of
written materials that will be distributed and the ways in which the
appropriateness of the materials will be ensured. Likewise, the program design
should discuss the types of HIV prevention items (e.g., condoms and/or safer sex
kits) that will be distributed and why they are appropriate for the intervention
and the audience.
Process Objectives. Health education and risk reduction; health
communication and public information; and counseling, testing, and partner
referral services each have fairly distinct intervention activities that can be
conducted at varying levels of intensity. In this section of the plan, the
provider should also specify the “dose” of intervention it expects to provide.
Process objectives describe the specific intervention activities, the projected
level of effort needed to carry them out, the people responsible for carrying
them out, and when they will be completed.
Table 3.8 provides examples of process objectives for each type of
intervention. See Table 3.9 for criteria for evaluating the implementation
strategies.
Table 3.8
| Examples of Process Objectives |
| Type of Intervention |
Sample Process Objectives |
| Individual- or Group-Level Interventions |
- 25 clients will be counseled per month
- At least 60% of clients will complete all four sessions of
individual counseling sessions
- 250 condoms and 100 bleach kits will be distributed as part of
the counseling in the next year
|
| Outreach |
- Outreach contact will be made with 300 members of the target
population at least twice during the year
- 200 risk-reduction fliers will be handed out each month
- 1,000 condoms will be distributed every 6 months
|
| Prevention Case Management |
- PCM services will be provided to 50 injection drug users during
the next fiscal year
- Each IDU in PCM will attend at least three PCM sessions
- New referral and coordination relationships will be developed
with at least one new agency per month
|
| Partner Counseling and Referral Services |
- Initial counseling sessions will be held with 20 HIV-infected
individuals each month
- Counselors will notify at least 90% of the partners they agreed
to contact
- HIV antibody tests will be performed for 80% of the notified
partners
|
| Health Communications/Public Information |
- Three radio spots on WXXX will be aired
- Four new businesses per month will be recruited to distribute
campaign materials
- 15 community residents will conduct peer networking in their own
neighborhoods at least twice per week
- Hotlines will field at least 50 calls per week
- Hotlines will provide referrals for at least 75% of all callers
|
Table 3.9
| Evaluating Implementation Strategies
and Process Objectives |
| Relevance |
In general, the implementation strategy needs to address the steps
of the intervention, its cultural and language appropriateness, and
issues of access and client involvement. Process objectives need to be
consistent with the activities outlined in the implementation strategy. |
| Scientific Soundness |
The intervention plan should provide a detailed enumeration of the
activities that are needed to implement the intervention. It should also
provide information on how the agency will ensure cultural and language
appropriateness and optimize client access and involvement. Process
objectives should be clear, consistent, and measurable. Each
intervention should have process objectives that specify the number,
frequency, and duration of activities over the period covered in the
proposal. |
Assessing Characteristics of the Implementing Organization
The implementing organization is responsible for carrying out the activities
in the intervention plan. In addition to describing the components of the
intervention, the intervention plan should address the resources—human,
financial, and institutional—available to the implementing organization to
support the intervention.
An intervention plan is helpful if it provides a sense of an organization’s
experience and its connections with the members of its intended clientele and
with other providers in its service area. Implementing organizations should also
describe their relationship with other collaborating organizations and how
linkages and referrals will be made. Some interventions (such as prevention case
management) are dependent upon strong linkages to other service providers.
Acceptance of the provider by the community is essential to achieving desired
results. These characteristics are partial indicators of provider familiarity
with the needs of the community and the provider’s ability to “do business”
there.
An agency must also have enough staff to implement the intervention at the
level it proposes. Staff size should be related to the level of activities the
provider has set forth in various process objectives as well as to the overall
target population to be covered. One way of expressing this is as a
provider-to-client ratio with a justification for how that ratio will serve the
needs of the target population and the provider. Expected levels of staff
retention and loss should also be addressed in this section of the intervention
plan.
Similarly, a provider’s ability to effectively implement an intervention (and
get results) is related to the quality of staff implementing the activity.
Having an explicit set of procedures for quality assurance for staffing and
implementation enhances the overall effectiveness of the intervention. A quality
assurance plan is likely to include a thorough orientation, ongoing training,
and clear lines of supervision and oversight.
Budget and Resources. The budget and its accompanying narrative should
be considered part of the intervention plan. At the end of an agency’s budget
periods, the budget can be compared with actual expenditures to determine
whether the budget was a good estimation of expenses and to decide where
refinements might be made.
Table 3.10 lists some criteria for reviewing the relevance and scientific
soundness of the features of the implementing organization.
Table 3.10
| Evaluating Implementation Strategies
and Process Objectives |
| Relevance |
In general, the implementation strategy needs to address the steps
of the intervention, its cultural and language appropriateness, and
issues of access and client involvement. Process objectives need to be
consistent with the activities outlined in the implementation strategy. |
| Scientific Soundness |
The intervention plan should provide a detailed enumeration of the
activities that are needed to implement the intervention. It should also
provide information on how the agency will ensure cultural and language
appropriateness and optimize client access and involvement. Process
objectives should be clear, consistent, and measurable. Each
intervention should have process objectives that specify the number,
frequency, and duration of activities over the period covered in the
proposal. |
Describing the Data System
The preceding steps in preparing an intervention plan have focused on the
description of the intended intervention—its relevance in the jurisdiction, its
scientific basis, and the protocol for implementing it. The intervention plan
should also describe how the provider will manage and refine (if necessary)
the intervention and how the provider will document progress to be accountable
to stakeholders.
Concrete information about progress is essential to ensure that high quality
prevention services are
delivered as intended, intended clients receive those services, training and
supervision are provided
in response to identified needs, and resources are expended judiciously. A
minimal data system to
serve these purposes would document what has been done and would be used to
assess intervention
progress and help identify ways to improve it; such a system is at the heart of
process evaluation,
which will be discussed in more detail in the next chapter.
Management data are most useful when they are kept current. The
characteristics of the intervention that have been proposed in the intervention
plan are the first data that must be collected. Data about the implementation
and outcomes of each intervention complete the data system. Therefore, it is
important for the health department and its grantees to demonstrate the capacity
and commitment to collect data relevant to program implementation.
Collecting process data is often viewed as a time-consuming process—time that
could be better spent serving clients with direct services. Although everyone is
concerned about providing the best possible prevention services to the most
people, many people are willing to continue providing services without proven
value. Stakeholders and funding providers—from federal policymakers to governors
to community planning groups and members of the target populations— are
demanding empirical evidence of what is being done for people at risk for HIV
and how well those services work. The data to support these activities can be
gathered fairly easily. However, as with anything of value, a commitment of
effort must be made. The effort required can be minimized by integrating data
collection into existing activities or creating administrative systems to handle
data collection.
Such a data system could be a paper file system. However, one reason
given by program managers in the past for not collecting or using data to manage
programs is that shuffling a large number of paper records is cumbersome,
time-consuming, and more effort than it is worth. Today, however, computers and
database software are commonplace and easy to use, increasing productivity. The
largest time demands of a computer system are the initial creation of the
database and entering the data into the system. The time savings occurs in using
the data for decision making, with the ability to examine the data in any number
of permutations, create multiple reports, and, generally, have at-a-glance
access to all information.
There are a few different scenarios for the development of a management
information system database for intervention plan and process data:
- Some health departments have existing, sophisticated computer systems in
which these data are already collated; others have systems that could be
expanded to include intervention data.
- Some health departments may have staff who are computer-proficient and
able to develop such a database using commercially available software (some
of which may have been provided with the computer when it was purchased).
- Another option is to have a programmer develop software for this
purpose; this may be an opportunity to have financial systems, human
resources, and other data systems situated in a single system.
Obtaining data from grantees and contractors may require the use of existing
processes. For instance, health department subcontractors are usually required
to report on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. These are excellent
opportunities for receiving manageable amounts of data that can be entered into
a central system with minimal effort at any one time. A data system for
intervention information would only require standardizing the reporting
expectations and requesting data that can be used systematically in a
computerized system. This may entail using categorical or quantitative data when
possible (as opposed to narrative or qualitative data, although this type of
information is also helpful and appropriate in many instances). The example
evaluation criteria are presented in Table 3.11.
Table 3.11
| Evaluating the Data System |
| Relevance |
The data system should be linked to the process and
outcome objectives identified in the intervention plan. |
| Scientific Soundness |
The data system should include variables to address
each process objective (e.g., numbers of clients served, number of
services provided, resources used, quality of services) and, where
possible, each outcome objective. It should include a plan for
collecting data that includes data sources, staff responsibilities for
collecting and reporting the data, and a protocol for how the system
will be implemented. While a computerized database for managing data is
not a requirement, providers should consider the difficulties they might
face when using a paper-based system. |
In the Appendix
Appendix A contains the list of 25 citations that the Behavioral Intervention
Research Branch has determined have scientific evidence supporting their
effectiveness.
The example forms in Appendix B are provided as resources for grantees and
their subcontractors to use if they wish to collect information about proposed
interventions. There is one form for each of the major types of intervention
(e.g., individual-level, outreach, health communication). These forms can be
modified or added to as needed to meet the particular needs of the
jurisdictions.
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References and Resources
Bandura, A. Perceived self-efficacy in the exercise of control over AIDS
infection. In Mays, V.M., Albee, G. W., & Schneider, S. F., eds. Primary
Prevention of AIDS. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1989. pp. 128-141.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Planning and Evaluating
HIV/AIDS Prevention Programs in State and Local Health Departments: A Companion
to Program Announcement #300, Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 1993.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Planning and Conducting Street
Outreach Process Evaluation, Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, 1994.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Guidelines for Health
Education and Risk Reduction Activities. Atlanta: Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 1995.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HIV Prevention Case
Management: Guidance. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
1997.
Chen, H-T. Theory-driven evaluations. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1990.
Corby, N. H., & Wolitski, R. J., eds. Community HIV Prevention: The Long
Beach AIDS Community Demonstration Project, Long Beach: University Press,
California State University, 1997.
The Health Communication Unit at the Centre for Health Promotion, University
of Toronto. Evaluating Health Promotion Programs, No date.
Mantell, J. E., DiVittis, A.T., & Auerbach, M. I. Evaluating HIV
Prevention Interventions. Plenum Press: New York and London, 1997.
National Community AIDS Partnership. Evaluating Prevention Programs in
Community-Based Organizations, 1993.
National Minority AIDS Council. The Program Development Puzzle: How to
Make the Pieces Fit. 1997.
National Research Council. Evaluating AIDS Prevention Programs, Expanded
Edition. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press: 1991.
Prochaska, J. O. & DiClemente, C. C. Stages of change in the modification of
problem behaviors. Progress in Behavior Modification, 1992;28:183-218.
Prochaska, J. O., Redding, C .A., Harlow, L. L., Rossi, J. S., & Velicer, W.
F. The Transtheoretical Model of HIV prevention: A review. Health Education
Quarterly, 1993, 21, 471-486.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Making Health Communication
Programs Work: A Planner’s Guide. Washington, DC: NIH Publication No.
92-1493, 1992.
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APPENDIX A: Interventions With Scientific Evidence of Effectiveness
For more information, contact:
Ellen Sogolow, Ph.D.
Health Scientist
Behavioral Intervention Research Branch
Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention
1600 Clifton Rd.
Mailstop E-37
Atlanta, GA 30333
(404) 639-1900
eds0@cdc.gov
CDC AIDS Community Demonstration Projects Research Group. Community-level HIV
intervention in five cities: Final outcome data from the CDC AIDS Community
Demonstration Projects. AJPH 1999;89(3):336-345.
Cohen D, Dent C, MacKinnon D. Condom skills education and sexually
transmitted disease reinfection. J of Sex Research 1991;28(1):139-144.
Cohen DA, MacKinnon DP, Dent C, Mason H, Sullivan E. Group counseling at STD
clinics to promote use of condoms. Pub Hlth Reports 1992;107(6):727-730.
Des Jarlais DC, Casriel C, Friedman SR, Rosenblum A. AIDS and the transition
to illicit drug injection: Results of a randomized trial prevention program.
British Journal of Addictions 1992;87(3);493-498.
DiClemente RJ & Wingood GM. Randomized controlled trial in an HIV sexual
risk-reduction intervention for young African-American women. JAMA
1995;274(16):1271-1276.
El-Bassel N & Schilling RF. 15-Month follow-up of women methadone patients
taught skills to reduce heterosexual HIV transmission. Pub Hlth Reports
1992;107(5):500-504.
Hobfoll SE, Jackson AP, Lavin J, Britton PJ, Shepherd JB. Reducing inner-city
women's AIDS risk activities: A study of single pregnant women. Health
Psychology 1994;13(5):397-403.
Jemmott JB, Jemmott LS, Fong GT. Reductions in HIV risk-associated sexual
behaviors among Black male adolescents: Effects of an AIDS prevention
intervention. AJPH 1992;82(3):372-377.
Kamb ML, Fishbein M, Douglas JM, et al. Efficacy of risk-reduction counseling
to prevent human immunodeficiency virus and sexually transmitted disease: A
randomized controlled trial. JAMA 1998;280(13):1161-1167.
Kegeles SM, Hays RB, Coates TJ. The Mpowerment Project: A community-level HIV
prevention intervention for young gay men. AJPH 1996;86(8):1129-1136.
Kelly JA, Murphy DA, Washington CD, et al. The effects of HIV/AIDS
intervention groups for high-risk women in urban clinics. AJPH
1994;84(12):1918-1922.
Kelly JA, St. Lawrence JS, Hood HV, Brasfield TL. Behavioral intervention to
reduce AIDS-risk activities. J of Counseling & Clinical Psych 1989;57(1):60-67.
Kelly JA, St. Lawrence JS, Stevenson Y, et al. Community AIDS/HIV risk
reduction: The effects of endorsements by popular people in three cities. AJPH
1992;82(11):1483-1489.
Kirby D, Barth RP, Leland N, Fetro JV. Reducing the risk: Impact of a new
curriculum on sexual risk-taking. Fam Plan Perspectives 1991;23(6):253-263.
Lauby JL, Smith PJ, Stark M, Person B, Adams J. A community-level HIV
intervention for inner-city women: Results of the Women and Infants
Demonstration Trial. (unpublished report)
Magura S, Kang S, Shapiro JL. Outcomes of intensive AIDS education for male
adolescent drug users in jail. J of Adolescent Health 1994;15(6):457-463.
Main DS, Iverson DC, McGloin J, et al. Prevention HIV infection among
adolescents: Evaluation of a school-based education program. Prev Med
1994;23(4):409-417.
McCusker J, Stoddard AM, Zapka JG, Morrison CS, Zorn M, Lewis BF. AIDS
education for drug abusers: Evaluation of short-term effectiveness. AJPH
1992;82(4):533-540.
O'Donnell CR, O'Donnell L, San Doval A, Duran R, Labes K. Reductions in STD
infections subsequent to an STD clinic visit. Sex Transm Dis.
1998;25(3):161-168.
Rotheram-Borus M, Van Rossem R, Lee M, Gwadz M, Koopman C. Reduction in HIV
risk among runaway youths. (anticipated publication, 1999).
Siegal HA, Falck RS, Carlson RG, Wang J. Reducing HIV needle risk behaviors
among injection drug users in the Midwest: An evaluation of the efficacy of
standard and enhanced interventions. AIDS Ed and Prevent 1995;7(4):308-319.
Stanton BF, Li X, Ricardo I, Galbraith J, Feigelman S, Kaljee L. A
randomized, controlled effectiveness trial of an AIDS prevention program for
low-income African-American youths. Archives of Peds and Adoles Med
1996;150(4):363-372.
St. Lawrence JS, Brasfield TL, Jefferson KW, Alleyne E, O'Bannon RE, Shirley
A. Cognitive-behavioral intervention to reduce African-American adolescents'
risk for HIV infection. J of Consult and Clinical Psych 1995;63(2):221-237.
Valdiserri RO, Lyter DW, Leviton LC, Callahan CM, Kingsley LA, Rinaldo CR.
AIDS prevention in homosexual and bisexual men: Results of a randomized trial
evaluating two risk-reduction interventions. AIDS 1989;3(1):21-26.
Wenger NS, Linn LS, Epstein M, Shapiro MF. Reduction of high-risk sexual
behavior among heterosexuals undergoing HIV antibody testing: A randomized
control trial. AJPH 1991;81(12):1580-1585.
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APPENDIX B: Example Forms to Summarize Intervention Plan Data
- Individual-level interventions
- Group-level interventions
- Outreach
- Prevention Case Management
- Partner Counseling and Referral Services
- Health Communications and Public Information Activities
- Community-level interventions
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Go to Monitoring and Evaluating the Implementation of HIV Prevention Programs
| 1 |
Risk populations are characterized primarily by the risk
behaviors associated with specific means of HIV transmission. This
classification is not intended to minimize the importance of other ways of
characterizing people at risk for HIV or in need of HIV prevention services. For
example, there are good reasons in some situations to classify people according
to demographic characteristics (e.g., age, race/ethnicity) or by occupation
(“sex worker”). The use of behavioral risk populations has two primary
advantages. First, it highlights the importance that CDC places on clarifying
the behavioral risk that is the target of prevention efforts. Second, it
provides a common denominator with which to describe the groups of people being
served with CDC funds. |
| 2 |
For many purposes, CDC will project numbers of people to be
served in an ensuing year based on the CT data submitted by the jurisdiction the
previous year. Therefore, the intervention plan example reporting form A for
Counseling and Testing is limited to a narrative discussion of any differences
that are anticipated between a previous year’s service level and the level
expected in the next year. |
| 3 |
I = Data requested for Intervention Plans |
| 4 |
P = Data requested for Process Evaluations |
|