Real Men Are Safe (REMAS): A gender-focused HIV and sexual risk reduction intervention for men in substance abuse treatment.
This manual was developed by the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network Gender Specific HIV Prevention Intervention Protocol Development Team and used by male counselors delivering the Real Men Are Safe (REMAS) intervention to substance abuse treatment clients enrolled in NIDA CTN protocol 0018, Reducing HIV/STD Risk Behaviors: A Research Study for Men in Drug Abuse Treatment. It is a five-session group-delivered intervention package designed to help clients in substance abuse treatment reduce their HIV risk.
In the clinical trial men in substance abuse treatment were randomly assigned to attend the REMAS intervention or a single session HIV Education (HIV Ed) which served as a standardized control group representing treatment as usual for CTN community treatment programs. The trial provided compelling evidence of the effectiveness of REMAS. REMAS participants had significantly fewer unprotected sexual occasions, than HIV Ed participants, at both 3-months (effect size = .21) and 6-months (effect size = .34) (p<.0001) (Calsyn et al., 2009). This effect was heightened for REMAS completers, who attended the majority of their sessions. Men assigned to the REMAS condition reporting sex under the influence at the most recent sexual event decreased from 36.8% at baseline to 25.7% at 3 months compared to an increase from 36.9% to 38.3% in the HIV Ed condition (Calsyn et al, 2009).
REMAS materials:
- REMAS Manual** (.pdf)
- Flip charts (.ppt, for printing)
- Flip charts (.ppt, session slideshow)
- Certificate of Completion (.doc)
Related protocols: CTN-0018