Training South African mental health care providers to talk about sex in the era of AIDS.

Objective: Mental health care providers in South Africa often lack the skills to conduct effective prevention activities in psychiatric settings. This article describes the development and evaluation of an HIV education program for mental health care providers at three psychiatric institutions in South Africa.

Methods: The research team worked with a core group of 16 mental health care providers to assess HIV training needs and to develop a training intervention focused on identified issues. The training intervention was administered to three groups (42 total) during three 1.5-day workshops. Providers completed pre- and post-intervention assessments that measured knowledge and attitudes about HIV and AIDS.

Results: Data analysis revealed a significant increase in reported levels of comfort with HIV care (d=.54), perceived knowledge of HIV (d=1.17), and factual knowledge (d=.74).

Conclusions: This contextually relevant HIV education curriculum changed providers' attitudes and knowledge, demonstrated the feasibility of administering the training program, and provided a foundation for further prevention activities.