Development of intervention and evaluation materials for the pilot program Living Positively

The purpose of this extended practicum is to develop the intervention and evaluation materials for the pilot program, Living Positively, a health and wellness program for HIV positive patients at Thomas St. Health Center. Obesity, diabetes and other metabolic imbalances are now becoming more prevalent than wasting in the HIV positive community. Self-care or self-management programs are used for other chronic diseases and are an important resource for seeing improved health outcomes. ^ The development of a feasible self-management class or support group for HIV positive patients could help improve health outcomes and quality of life for HIV positive patients. The development of these materials used Intervention Mapping techniques, as well as an educational booklet and previous studies that have addressed self-management and health among HIV positive population. The developed materials include a general curriculum to conduct in this population. Evaluation materials were also developed including recruitment logs, referral logs, and evaluation questions for the participants and the staff. A draft pre/post survey was also developed to help in the evaluation. Constructs included on the evaluation survey include knowledge, self-efficacy and self-reported behavior related to healthy nutrition, physical activity, stress management and medication adherence.