In order to assure that the FACE interventions were to be successful, before launching the intervention a panel of local and national leaders was assembled to review the strategy in 2006. The panel, which included psychologists, religious leaders, a leader from the American Academy of Pediatrics, a leader from the Society for Research in Child Development, a person living with HIV / AIDS and an adolescent medicine physician specialist in the care of youth with HIV, the protocol was refined (p. 364). Hence, the literature indicates that a thorough examination -- called "Phase II: Pilot study/feasibility/acceptability" (including trials using competent, trained medical and psychological staff) was conducted prior to the launch of the FACE program. The criteria called for a surrogate to be present for those HIV+ participants who were under 18 years of age and the only exclusion criteria were "severe depression, in foster care, severe developmental delays, psychosis and dementia" (p. 366).

The facilitators of the group sessions were certified through the "Respecting Choices" competencies; the sessions lasted 60 to 90 minutes and were scheduled one week apart. On page 370 the authors state that the FACE interventions (in 2007 and 2008) yielded "a high rate of satisfaction for African-American families," a group that traditionally had been left out of EOL research (370). In fact African-American families "historically"...

But in this research, the fact that FACE is a community consultation model using "core characteristics" of other successful interventions, the families and HIV+ adolescents benefit therapeutically due to the positive contribution of communication on all levels.
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