Stand Up: Against Alcohol Abuse and for HIV Prevention in Namibia

Summary

The Stand Up campaign in Namibia addressed the role of alcohol as a driver of HIV to begin to change behaviors and social norms around its use in light of high prevalence of HIV and AIDS. The campaign developed alcohol picture codes to allow audience members to figure out the scenario in each depiction, as well as reflect and analyze the different circumstances. The picture codes allow viewers to visually connect with the effects of alcohol and HIV. The picture code flip chart consists of a series of pages with a photo on the front and text on the back. A facilitator shows the photo to groups or individuals and uses the text on the back to ask open-ended questions and generate discussion. For instance, each photo could begin with the following question: “What do you see in this photo?” At the end of each series of questions are a set of “Talking Points” that a facilitator can use to summarize the discussion's main points.

The Integrated Session Guides are participatory sessions that can be implemented by field workers and volunteers in communities, workplaces and clinical settings to generate discussion on the drivers of the HIV epidemic with target audiences in three age groups: 10-14, 15-24 and 25-49 years old. The Guides assist partners working in the prevention of HIV and will result in widespread discussion for behavior change, contributing to HIV reduction and prevalence in Namibia.

Research & Testing

Pre-testing of the picture codes was conducted in different communities among both youth and adults. In some situations, the youth expressed that they could relate to the picture codes that the scenarios depicted. The respondents also claimed that the pictures were clear and successfully captured the intended scenario.

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