Promoting Evaluation/Teaching/Research on AIDS (PETRA)

The proposed project will develop a set of three interrelated research-based products: (1) an archive of exemplary behavioral and social research data on HIV/AIDS, (2) HIV/AIDS teaching modules for the university classroom, and (3) a Web-based learning center for promoting best practices in HIV/AIDS prevention program development and evaluation. These resources should facilitate progress toward the HIV/AIDS-related prevention and control objectives of Healthy People 2010 by: (1) fostering efficient dissemination of high-quality research data and conclusions on behavioral and social factors related to HIV/AIDS; (2) empowering students and educators from a variety of disciplines at the undergraduate and graduate levels to understand, communicate, and utilize research data on social aspects of HIV/AIDS; and (3) enabling prevention practitioners to perform program development as well as process and outcome evaluation tasks critical to achieving best practices standards, thus helping to bridge the gap between research and practice. The three research-based products are interrelated, allowing them to be developed more efficiently and cost-effectively through combined project work. Because each product has a different target audience, the overall impact of this project will be felt across a broad range of HIV/AIDS-related fields. Input from a Scientist Expert Panel and from professors in a variety of disciplines will help ensure the scientific merit and substantive utility of the data archive and teaching modules. Input from practitioners, local government officials, and staff members of community-based organizations will help ensure that the Web-based learning center is relevant to the needs of prevention practitioners. Phase I investigated the feasibility of the proposed products by creating product prototypes and conducting appropriate needs assessment, feasibility, and usability studies to assure the products' user-friendliness and commercial appeal. Phase II will complete the development of all three products, conduct a second round of usability tests, field test the products in university (Products 1 and 2) and HIV/AIDS prevention program (Product 3) settings, and revise them to be maximally useful to their intended audiences.