Culturally adapting “Real Men Are Safe” for African American and Hispanic men.

This presentation begins with an overview of protocol CTN-0018, which evaluated a five-session HIV risk reduction group therapy designed specifically for men called, “Real Men Are Safe” (REMAS). Primary outcomes of CTN-0018 found REMAS to be effective in reducing sexual risk for men in substance abuse treatment programs. Further analysis of the data, however, discovered differences in impact as a function of race. To explore the way in which a culturally adapted REMAS intervention might better serve African American and Hispanic men, a CTN platform study was established and funded by an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant.

The study aims to revise the intervention to make it more culturally relevant, and then to conduct a feasibility trial of the revision in four CTN community treatment programs that feature a high percentage of African Americans or Hispanic clients. For the cultural adaptation, researchers used the Delphi Process, a structured communication technique in which experts answer questions in multiple rounds, as revisions are made based on their feedback and updates are presented to them. A detailed description of this procedure is included in the presentation. The manual has now been adapted and phase two of the study is being conducted.

Related protocols: CTN-0018