HIV Prevention Messages Delivered by Trusted Adults Help Teens Avoid Infection, Report Says

HIV/AIDS prevention messages aimed at teenagers are best delivered by trusted, known adults in a comfortable setting, such as home, church, school or youth groups, according to a federally funded survey conducted by the Metro Council for Teen Potential in Rochester, N.Y., the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reports. According to the report, parents, teachers, clergy and youth leadership counselors are the adults most likely to be successful in conveying HIV prevention messages to the teenagers they know, while HIV prevention messages delivered by strangers do not "get through" to teenagers, according to the Democrat and Chronicle. The report authors recommend more support for parents regarding talking to their children about sex and relationships, more HIV training for clergy, greater HIV prevention outreach in minority communities and better cooperation between agencies that serve youth. Beverly Watts Davis, director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, which funded the survey, said that effective HIV prevention programs already exist but need to be embraced by communities, adding, "This [report] is a good example of federal tax dollars well-spent." Sheila Driscoll, the council's director, said that the community needs to "engage the people that young people look up to" for prevention programs to work (Carter, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 6/18).