HIV is a significant public health concern in the US, and African American youth (defined as the adolescent and young adults 16-21 years of age) are disproportionately affected. Furthermore, HIV risk behaviors, including substance use and sexual risk behaviors are prominent. Despite the disproportionately high rates of HIV infection and risk behaviors in youth, few youth report having ever been tested for HIV and many are not routinely screened for asymptomatic STIs as recommended by the Center for Disease Control. To address these significant public health concerns, a mobile-health (mHealth) intervention, Storytelling 4 Empowerment (S4E) was developed for health clinic settings. S4E has demonstrated high feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy among youth in clinic settings. The proposed research will determine the feasibility and acceptability of delivering S4E via near peers, as well as determine the preliminary efficacy of S4E to improve HIV self-testing immediately post-intervention in a community sample (n=20) of at-risk youth ages 16-21 living in Flint, Michigan by conducting a phase I, one-arm pilot study to examine the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of S4E in improving the uptake of HIV self-testing immediately post-intervention. A University-Community approach was taken to employ principles of Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) to determine the accessibility and acceptability of S4E when delivered by Near Peers.
Examine the feasibility and acceptability of delivering the S4E intervention to 20 African-American youths between the ages 16-21 in Flint, Michigan. The investigators will examine the preliminary efficacy of the S4E intervention in improving the uptake of HIV self-testing immediately post-intervention.