Stay Healthy: A Gender-Transformative HIV Prevention Curriculum for Youth in Namibia

This interactive curriculum from EngenderHealth and LifeLine/ChildLine is designed to apply a gender-transformative approach to HIV prevention in Namibian schools.

From the Introduction: "The overall goal of Stay Healthy... is to prevent HIV infection among Namibian youth aged 13-18. Stay Healthy focuses on changing three key behaviors directly related to HIV infection by accomplishing the following: (1) delaying the onset of sexual intercourse, (2) increasing the correct and consistent use of the male condom among sexually active youth, and (3) decreasing multiple concurrent partners among sexually active youth. The reasons why some Namibian youth engage in these behaviors while others do not were identified through a careful analysis using the Behavior-Determinant- Intervention Logic Model.1 These reasons, or determinants, are the focus of all learning activities in Stay Healthy.

A total of 25 distinct psychosocial determinants associated with each of these behaviors were identified through various assessment activities, including discussions with Namibian youth, discussions with Namibian adults who work with youth, and a thorough review of the literature on effective sex and HIV education programs. Several well-established theories, including social cognitive theory, the theory of planned behavior, and a gender-transformative programming approach, also informed the selection of the psychosocial determinants linked to learning activities in the curriculum. The 25 determinants fall within the following 10 broad categories: (1) knowledge, (2) attitudes, (3) beliefs, (4) values, (5) peer norms, (6) gender norms, (7) skills and self-efficacy, (8) future goals, (9) parent-child communication, and (10) intentions...

Stay Healthy is a highly interactive curriculum comprised of 18 45-minute sessions (a total of 13.5 hours). Sessions were designed to be completed in 45 minutes to accommodate the typical class schedule in Namibian schools...Stay Healthy may also be facilitated in nonschool settings, and sessions can be combined for longer sessions....Because of the interactive nature of activities, we recommend that a maximum of 20 youth participate in each session."

Contents include:
Acknowledgments
Introduction
About the Curriculum
Learning Objectives
Gender and Its Influence on Health
Applying a Gender-Transformative Approach
Working with Namibian Schools
Planning to Implement Stay Healthy
Dealing with Challenging Situations
Sessions
Session 1: Your Life Now and in the Future
Session 2: Sexuality Throughout Your Life
Session 3: Important Facts about Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
Session 4: Personalizing HIV Risk 47
Session 5: “Sex” and “Gender”
Session 6: The Roles We Play: Female and Male Gender
Session 7: “Persons” or “Things”
Session 8: Listening to Each Other, Learning from Each Other
Session 9: Healthy and Unhealthy Relationships
Session 10: Speaking Up for Yourself - Saying No
Session 11: Abstinence
Session 12: More Speaking Up for Yourself - Negotiating Expectations and Boundaries
Session 13: Doing What You Like and Only What You Want
Session 14: Condoms Save Lives - How to Find Them, How to Use Them and How to Get Your Partner to Agree to Use Them
Session 15: Condoms Save Lives - Practice Using Them
Session 16: Complex Risks - Number of Partners, Sexual Networks, and Viral Loads
Session 17: Long-Term Mutual Monogamy: The Safe and Sensual Choice
Session 18: Committing to a Healthy Future
Take-Home Discussion Assignments
Assignment A: My Parent’s Hopes for Me
Assignment B: How Gender Roles Have Affected Your Parent’s Life
Assignment C: A Parent’s Wisdom about relationships
Appendixes
Appendix A: Stay Healthy Theory of Change Logic Model
Appendix B: Sample Parent/Guardian Consent Form