Program Development and Evaluation for HIV MSM Population

Program Development and Evaluation

The proposed program is intended for, and targets the students of both secondary and tertiary institutions. The program is known as "MSM Initiative for Colleges." "

The ability of this program to use ICT as a way of helping the aggregate is one important technique that will give the program a new edge. This is to help develop an effective combination of avoidance intervention that will be able to deliver BCC-behavioral change in communication. These behavioral changes in communication can be in the form of products, services, messages, as well as referrals, as a way of promoting and improving the use of condoms and condom-compatible lubricants, HIV tests, reporting cases of violence, and using complementary services. This inventive online 'cyber educator' MSM intervention, virtually provides a one-on-one HIV and BCC counseling, and test referrals (Adams, Klindera, Walsh, & Wold, 2014).

Interventions for the Aggregate

Distribution of Condoms and All Condom-Compatible Lubricants

For MSMs that are sexually active, the consistent use of latex condoms in sexual encounters between men and women can go a long way in minimizing the obvious risks of contacting and transmitting HIV, as well as the transmission of all other STIs. Making more condoms freely available can be the most cost-effective way of preventing the spread of this infection, as compared to the expensive new methods of prevention. A number of strategies might be utilized to enhance the accessibility of not only condoms but also condom -compatible oils. Furthermore these safety products can be placed and distributed in locations recurrently visited by MSM. Social media advertising and marketing of both condoms as well as condom-compatible oils can additionally enhance MSMs' readiness to take and correctly utilize condoms as well as condom-compatible oils (PEPFAR, 2011).

HIV Counseling and Testing

Making HIV testing more accessible is important for curbing the spread of HIV among MSMs and every one of their sex partners. HIV counseling will also makes adequate healthcare easily available to all HIV-positive MSMs. One very important step towards improving the general health of any HIV-positive MSM is undergoing HIV testing to ascertain one's status. It can also lead to a reduction in risk behaviors in HIV-positive persons, hence controlling the spread of the disease to others. HIV testing, when combined with appropriate counseling, can minimize the risk of HIV and STIs, and their transmission to others (REPFAR, 2011).

Vision Statement

The main vision of this program is to reduce incidences of MSM HIV occurrence to the barest minimum; up to 50% in schools, between now and the next ten years, by improving technological inventions and building new and stronger partnerships.

Mission Statement

The mission of this program is to pioneer the fight against the increasing MSM HIV / AIDS rate in student communities, through advocacy, awareness, and provision of adequate care, with the sole aim of helping individuals and communities live improved lives.

The Philosophy Statement

The "MSM Initiative for colleges" believes that each student MSM is a unique individual, like every other person, and needs a caring, safe and non-discriminating environment, where they can express their selves emotionally, intellectually, physically, and socially, without the fear of others' views about them. It is the program's aim to educate and help student MSMs meet their full potential in these areas, by providing support in the form of HIV testing, counseling, guidance and a group for sharing ideas (Cohen & Gelbrich, 2015).

The Program Goals

The primary goal of the project is to educate MSM students on HIV in a bid to reduce the spread of the wrong information. In order to do this, they will be provided with HIV prevention information during the course of the proposed program. The activities involved in this program targets the vulnerable MSM group that faces the greatest risk of being infected. Due to discrimination and homophobia, the program will equally make counseling and support groups available. Specific goals include;

Help more MSM students in high school and colleges know their HIV status.

Make prevention interventions available for MSM HIV-positive students in all schools, once the program is launched.

Minimize the risk behaviors in high-risk negatives.

Improve voluntary testing for all other STDs, after HIV testing of the student MSMs.

Distribute more condoms in more areas to HIV patients, high-risk persons, as well as the general public, more specifically, in school cafeterias, clinics and counselors' offices.

Maintain and improve Social Marketing campaigns as a way of supporting prevention initiatives for all PLWH and all high-risk negatives (REPFAR, 2011).

Program Objectives

What this project is trying to achieve is to;

Discover brilliant programmatic techniques and knowledge gained for reaching gays, all other MSM and TG communities within the educational system, with the aid of technology;

Formulating awareness programs and strategies for prospective gay students along with MSM and TG communities'; and Making efforts to involve both the public health sector and private sector in using ICT as a more effective way of reaching gay men, all other MSM and transgender communities with HIV prevention and control messages, and referrals/links to both health and social services. This method will incorporate providing MSM HIV information on regularly visited student's sites.

The Program Staff

A total of about 8 members of staff will be required to execute the project. They are;

1 Project Director

1 Project Coordinator

1 Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist

1 ICT Manager

1 Partnership Liaison Officer

3 Temporary Staff or Interns

The Rationale and Role of Staff Members

The Project Director

The project director is the head of the project. He is involved in founding the program, and manages all projects within the program, from their kick-off to completion, in addition to any other activities taking place in the program. He is also responsible for hiring new workers and delegating duties and tasks to each. Similarly, he has the power to fire underperforming workers.

The Project Coordinator

The project coordinator is saddled with the task of coordinating different projects under the program, and organizing events. He reports directly to the director, and manages every other worker. He consults the director and then decides which programs to run and when to run them.

The Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist

This is the individual who is solely responsible for implementing all the strategies involved in monitoring and evaluating the project. He is also expected to offer relevant advice with regards to all the necessary changes, based on past experiences and lessons learned from partners.

The ICT Manager

This is the individual saddled with the sole responsibility of creating all social media awareness activities, and managing everything about the ICT aspect of the program, including program marketing over different kinds of media (online and offline)

The Partnership Liaison Officer

The liaison officers work together with the program partners, in the spirit of sustained planning and collaboration, and for the purpose of ensuring effective coordination. he/she is responsible for handling any joint mistakes concerning any aspect of the partnership and its execution. Also, the officer is responsible for staying in touch with everyone else involved in the program, and managing all the active projects that involve all the partners. Planning and management of the steering committee formed to facilitate the process of project development and execution is also under the role of the liaison officer.