National Resource Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention among Adolescents (APNRC)

Overview

In order to achieve the three primary goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS), reducing HIV infection, increasing access and improving care, and reducing HIV-related health disparities, the NHAS challenges stakeholders to respond in a more coordinated national response. Since the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that youth ages 13-24 years have the highest proportion of undiagnosed HIVⁱ and that the rate of HIV diagnoses is increasingⁱⁱ, the US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Adolescent Health (OAH) responded to this challenge for a more coordinated national response with the funding opportunity announcement for a national resource center for HIV prevention among adolescents.

In September 2011, the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center was awarded funding from OAH to develop a National Resource Center for HIV/AIDS Prevention among Adolescents (APNRC). The goal of the APNRC is to build national capacity in youth HIV prevention by providing a central, online location to access training, technical assistance, information exchange, and a resource library to remain current about published literature and evidence-based programs and practices.

The APNRC website, due to go live in the Spring of 2012, is designed for a broad range of youth providers. The homepage will include features such as frequently asked questions and other strategies for accessing targeted information quickly. APNRC website consumers can communicate and request technical assistance e.g. "How can we help?" Information on the website is broken down into three content areas:

• "What Works" will include links and adaptation tips for existing evidence-based programming. These broadly applicable existing evidence-based programs include a range of intervention resources such as implementation manuals, lesson plans, protocols, job descriptions, sample budgets, and evaluation tools. For programs to adopt these packaged evidence-based programs, adaption is required. The APRNRC will also provide information and technical assistance to help facilitate adaptation. Within a discussion forum, the APNRC website also facilitates discussion among stakeholders about experiences in implementing evidence-based program within a discussion forum.
• "What's New" will include a quarterly listing of current published literature. In addition, each quarter, several research articles will be summarized and rated using the CDC's Tiers of Evidence Framework for classifying individual, group, and community HIV preventionⁱⁱⁱ. Articles for the "Editor Picks" summary and evidence rating are chosen based on numerous factors including highlighting programming that targets high-risk groups such as racial/and ethnic minorities since there is a disproportionate impact of HIV that is particularly evident in the 13-19 year age group.^iv The APRNC will also support an author discussion forum for discourse and the sharing of tools used in adolescent prevention research.
• "Resources" will include links to clinical, community and federal partners with an adolescent and/or prevention focus. This content will also include funding tips, a surveillance map, and content by topic.

For more information contact:
Dr. Pamela Rothpletz-Puglia
Principal Investigator, APNRC
François-Xavier Bagnoud Center
rothplpm@umdnj.edu

i CDC. HIV Surveillance Report, 2009; Volume 21. Published February 2011. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/surveillance/resources/reports/2009report/. Accessed June 13, 2011. Based on information from 40 states and 5 dependent areas with confidential name-based HIV infection reporting, Table 3b.

ii CDC.  HIV Surveillance United States — 1981–2008. MMWR 2011; 689-693.

iii  CDC. Tiers of Evidence: A Framework for Classifying HIV Behavioral Interventions. http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/research/prs/tiers-of-evidence.htm

iv Calculations based on information from Diagnoses of HIV Infection and AIDS in the United States and Dependent Areas, 2009 Table 3b. HIV Surveillance Report, Volume 21. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/surveillance/resources/reports/2009report/ Accessed June 13 2011.