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ABSTRACT: A pilot HIV/AIDS Education Program for Grenada that was developed and partially implemented as an HIV/AIDS education program and intervention. The purpose of this study was to complete a preliminary evaluation of the Grenada HIV/AIDS Educational Program, and to make recommendation concerning the future of this program.

METHOD: This study included 1,078 students (boys and girls) between the ages of 12 and 18 years old and residing in Grenada. A sample of this population was drawn from 16 schools throughout Grenada’s eight parishes. The 16 selected schools were placed in two groups using random selection procedures. The first group was classified as the control group, while the second group was classified as the experimental group.

In an effort to evaluate the effectiveness of the program for teaching students about HIV/AIDS relationships and methods of disease transmission, all program participants were pretested and posttested regarding these knowledge areas. The tests was a 22-item survey questionnaire.  Pretest administration of the questionnaire was performed on the day of the HIV/AIDS educational intervention. For the control group, the administration was conducted by teachers at the schools the participants were attending. Following the administrations of the pretest, student participants assigned to the experimental group experienced the HIV/AIDS education intervention designed for this study. The posttest administrations were conducted two weeks subsequent to the completion of the HIV/AIDS education interventions. For student participants assigned to both the control group and the experimental group, the administrations were conducted by teachers at the schools the participants were attending.

Each hypothesis (evaluating pretest-to-posttest score gains between subjects who experienced the Grenada HIV/AIDS Education Program intervention and the subjects who did not experience the intervention) was tested through the application of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to the appropriate data. For the hypothesis to be accepted, it was required that (1) the pretest-to-posttest gain for the experimental group be greater than that for the control group and (2) that variations in pretest-to-posttest gains between the two groups be statistically significant. The criterion for the rejection of the null was p<.05.

DISCUSSION:  Hypotheses were tested in relation to each of the four investigative domains—the nature of HIV and AIDS, the potential to become infected with HIV through sexual contact, the potential to become infected with HIV through contact with bodily fluids other than semen or vaginal fluid, and common myths associated with HIV/AIDS. The results of the hypothesis testing are presented within the context of these four domains.

CONCLUSION:  The findings of this study led to the conclusion that an educational program intervention for adolescents in Grenada similar to the one used in this study can be effective in raising the level of HIV/AIDS awareness and knowledge among Grenadian adolescents. Face value and statistical analysis both support these results. Based on experience in other countries, its is reasonable to suggest that the implementation of such an education and intervention program targeting teenagers in Grenada will pay huge dividends for Grenada’s future both socially and economically.