Background: One of the biggest racial health disparities in the US concerns HIV/AIDS. African Americans have considerably higher rates of HIV/AIDS than do Whites, Hispanics, Asians, and Native Americans. The predominant approach to prevention has been to mount individual- or small-group multisession behavioral interventions. The reach of such interventions is very limited and thus, the field of HIV prevention has called for structural interventions that reach many people in their natural environments. This dissertation evaluates a serial drama, "Reality Check," which is a structural HIV prevention intervention for, 18-24 year old African Americans.Theory: Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory was used in the development of the intervention. Fishbein and Ajzen's Reasoned Action approach, was used to inform the survey instrument and statistical analysis models. Intervention: "Reality Check" is a 13-episode serial drama. Each day a new 6-9 minute, episode was streamed online while all previous episodes were available on the study's website. In addition to streaming the episodes, emails giving the locations of local venues where free HIV testing is available were sent, so that the barrier of not knowing will not interfere with viewers' ability to be tested should they decide to get tested. Method: A randomized controlled trial with baseline and multiple post- intervention assessments was used to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention. A total of 203 African Americans (162 women and 41 men) aged between 18 and 24 years located anywhere in the United States participated in the study. Confidential online longitudinal surveys were conducted at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and three months after the end of the intervention. The primary outcomes were condomless sex and HIV testing. Results: The intervention reduced the number of times participants reported having condomless sex but did not affect HIV testing. It also reduced homophobia and HIV/AIDS stigma as well as the number of times participants reported having vaginal sexual intercourse. Attrition was remarkably low with 93% and 87% of the participants completing the immediate-post intervention and 3-month follow-up assessments respectively.

Persuading People to Have Safer Sex offers a lucid, in-depth, student-friendly and academically thorough discussion of AIDS prevention and health persuasion. In so doing it provides an introduction to the ways that social scientific research can be brought to bear on a daunting health problem. Covering many aspects of the AIDS crisis, the book introduces readers to the severity of the AIDS problem and explains the epidemiology of the disease. It discusses why persuasion is so important, explicates cognitive theories of AIDS prevention, and notes the role emotions and communication play in safer sex prevention. It also discusses: *functions that unsafe sex plays in peoples' lives; *why people, notably minority women, frequently choose to engage in unsafe sex; and *social factors underlying the spread of AIDS in urban America and portions of Africa. As a resource for introducing students to the role that theory and research play in health communication and psychology, the volume is appropriate for use in communication, journalism, social psychology, and public health courses, and will be of value to scholars, researchers, and all who seek to understand the use of persuasion in changing behavior.

This edited collection investigates the biomedical and social technologies used to control the HIV pandemic through case studies and critical commentaries from Africa, Europe, North America and Australia. With reference to global and local complexities, the volume engages with HIV treatment access, community-based health promotion, sexual health, HIV prevention and the relations between treatment and prevention. The volume includes chapters from leading authors in their fields and takes a trans-disciplinary approach by making reference to theoretical and empirical research from sociology, psychology, cultural studies and science and technology studies, thus helping to establish new ways of understanding current and future configurations of HIV technologies.

The AIDS epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa continues to affect all facets of life throughout the subcontinent. Deaths related to AIDS have driven down the life expectancy rate of residents in Zambia, Kenya, and Uganda with far-reaching implications. This book details the current state of the AIDS epidemic in Africa and what is known about the behaviors that contribute to the transmission of the HIV infection. It lays out what research is needed and what is necessary to design more effective prevention programs.

This book constitutes the refereed post-conference proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Persuasive Technology, PERSUASIVE 2021, held as a virtual event, in April 2021. The 17 full papers presented in this book together with 8 short papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 67 submissions. The papers are grouped in topical sections as follows: persuasive affective technology; digital marketing, ecommerce, etourism and smart ecosystems; and persuasion and education.