Marin County Life :: Promising Practices :: Study to Reduce Intravenous Exposures (STRIVE)

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An Evidence-Based Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.

2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures showing improvement in the outcome(s) of interest after the implementation of the program (i.e. increase in smoking cessation, not just the delivery of a smoking cessation program). The outcome measure(s) is/are compared at relevant time periods before and after the intervention or program implementation. Alternatively, the evaluation study compares the outcome(s) between an intervention group and an appropriate control group.

3. The study is of peer-review quality and presents numbers in a scientific manner; measurements of precision and reliability are included (e.g. confidence intervals, standard errors), results from statistical tests show a significant difference or change in the outcome measure(s), and relevant point estimates and p-values are presented. Note: if the results from an evaluation of a program are presented in a scientific manner and the outcome measure is improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant, the practice is classified as effective and not evidence-based.

Study to Reduce Intravenous Exposures (STRIVE)

Ranking	Evidence-Based Practice
Description	The Study to Reduce Intravenous Exposures (STRIVE) is an intervention to reduce the spread of hepatitis C virus (HCV) among injection drug users. The group peer mentoring program is designed for injection drug users with an HCV infection. The intervention educates participants about HCV and provides skills to reduce substance use. The program uses demonstrations, games, group discussions, skills-building exercises, street outreach activities and videos to deliver content. STRIVE also trains participants to mentor other injection drug users to promote risk reduction. The peer-mentoring roll encourages participants to practice and promote safer injection practices.
Goal / Mission	The goal of STRIVE is to reduce risky injection practices among injection drug users with an HCV infection.
Results / Accomplishments	In a study of over 400 injection drug users with an HCV infection, peer mentoring intervention participants reported significantly lower levels of sharing drug preparation equipment (p = 0.03) and significantly lower levels of combined risk indicators (p = 0.006) when compared to a control group that received a video discussion intervention at six months following the intervention. At a 3-month follow-up, the intervention participants reported significantly lower levels of the following indicators: combined distributive risk (p = 0.004), frequency of preparing drugs with a syringe previously used by oneself (p = 0.03), sharing drug preparation equipment (p = 0.008), refraining from injection drug use (p = 0.001), and frequency of injecting with a used syringe (p = 0.01).
Categories	Health / Immunizations & Infectious Diseases Health / Prevention & Safety Health / Substance Abuse
Organization(s)	University of California San Diego Division of International Health
Source	Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Date of Publication	2006
Date of Implementation	2002
Geographic Type	Urban
Location	Country: USA
Primary Contact	Steffanie A. Strathdee, PhD Division of International Health Department of Medicine University of California San Diego 10111 N. Torrey Pines Rd. La Jolla, CA 92093-0507 sstrathdee@ucsd.edu http://gph.ucsd.edu/
For more details	http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/research/prs/reso...
Target Audience	Adults
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