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Community Popular Opinion Leader Intervention for HIV Prevention Uptake in Rural South Africa
Sponsor: Africa Health Research Institute
Summary
The Community Popular Opinion Leader (CPOL) is an intervention dveloped in the United States which identifies, trains, and enlists key opinion leaders within communities to deliver messages to peers and help link them to services. This project involves testing the feasibility and acceptability of such a localized version of the CPOL intervention in rural South Africa. This will be achieved through a pilot intervention in three purposively selected communities in the Hlabisa sub-district of uMkhanyakude district, KwaZulu-Natal. The investigators will select potential peer leaders in three ways (at random; based on nominations by peers; based on statistical analysis of previously collected social network data). Peer leaders will be invited to attend four weekly training sessions to learn about HIV prevention and persuasive communication. They will then be coached to start HIV prevention conversations with peers, including provision of HIV self-test kits and linkage to healthcare services. The investigators will evaluate this pilot using group discussions, in-depth interviews and brief pre/post questionnaires with session facilitators, peer leaders, contacted peers and healthcare providers. The investigators will analyse the data collected with the Practical, Robust Implementation and Sustainability Model (PRISM) dissemination and implementation framework, identifying factors likely to affect Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance (RE-AIM).
Official title: Adapting and Piloting a Community Popular Opinion Leader Intervention to Increase Uptake of HIV Prevention Interventions in Rural South Africa
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
18 Years - 28 Years
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
60
Start Date
2026-08
Completion Date
2026-10
Last Updated
2026-08-03
Healthy Volunteers
Yes
Conditions
Interventions
CPOL group training
Trained research assistants will deliver four two-hour training sessions to a group of \~20 young adults, leading to the trainees providing sexual health information and HIV self-tests (with onward self-referral to local clinics) to their friends and close contacts. Sessions include training on local sexual health information, effective communication strategies, practice conversations and feedback.
Locations (1)
Africa Health Research Institute
uMkhanyakude, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa