African HIV Prevention Handbook: putting The Knowledge, The Will and The Power into practice

Duration: September 2008 - October 2009

Sigma Research worked with the National African HIV Prevention (NAHIP) programme partner agencies to devise a planning Handbook to accompany their HIV prevention framework document called The Knowledge, The Will and The Power (KWP). The Handbook specifies a range of interventions that are used to reduce HIV prevention need among African people in England. It also addresses key planning issues and outcomes related to each type of intervention.

NAHIP partner agencies were asked to: undertake an interview with Sigma Research (face-to-face or on the phone) to describe current HIV prevention activities (regardless of who funds them); to attend focus groups to discuss the range of interventions described by all the NAHIP partners; and comment on a full draft of the document.

The Handbook:
1. Describes interventions in a way that helps HIV prevention agencies (from managers all the way to volunteer and outreach staff) to put into practice KWP in their own agencies.
2. Uses clear, unambiguous language to describe interventions in order to improve communication between those commissioning services, those planning and delivering them, and those involved in their evaluation.
3. Describes simple steps to assessing need.
4. Documents and critiques a range of interventions and discuss how they might be best combined.
5. Provides an overview of the evaluation literature regarding intervention efficacy.
6. Describes the competencies and resources required for particular types of HIV prevention intervention.
7. Illustrates all the above using Case Studies of real interventions collected from agencies carrying out HIV prevention with African people in England.

The final Handbook was published in October 2009.

This work was commissioned by the African HIV Policy Network on behalf of NAHIP, the National African HIV Prevention programme for African people resident in England. NAHIP is funded by the Department of Health.

Key contact:

NAHIP partners
African Institute for Social Development
Black Gay Men's Advisory Group
Black Health Agency (inc. Leeds Skyline Service)
Centre for African Families Positive Health
Community of Congolese Refugees in Great Britain (CORECOG)
Congolese Youth Association
The Crescent (Hertfordshire)
Embrace UK Community Support Centre
Health Action Charity Organisation (HACO)
MDC Training & Consultancy
National Institute for African Studies (NIAS)
NAZ Project London
Organisation of HIV Positive African Men (OPAM)
Pan-Afrique Centre
Positively Women
Terrence Higgins Trust
Uganda AIDS Action Fund
West African Network Initiative
Youth Projects International