Designing a culturally based intervention to reduce HIV sexual risk for Latino adolescents

There is a pressing need to develop effective interventions to prevent sexually transmitted HIV infection among Latino adolescents. Although there have been few models to direct the design of culturally effective interventions, the processes of recognizing the influence of specific cultural and contextual variables, building on “what works,” and integrating community perspectives are important elements. These processes were used in the development of a Latino culturally based curriculum designed to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted HIV among Latino youth. Specific examples are provided to illustrate how these processes were used and how the curriculum evolved.