Sister to Sister

Sister to Sister is a brief (20-minute), one-on-one, skill-based HIV/sexually transmitted disease (STD) risk-reduction behavioral intervention for sexually active African American women 18 to 45 years old that is delivered during the course of a routine medical visit.

The purpose of Sister to Sister is to: provide intensive, culturally sensitive health information to empower and educate women in a clinical setting; help women understand the various behaviors that put them at risk for HIV and other STDs; and enhance women’s knowledge, beliefs, motivation, confidence, and skills to help them make behavioral changes that will reduce their risk for STDs, especially HIV.

The target population for Sister to Sister is sexually active African American women 18-45 years old who have male partners and are attending primary health care clinics (e.g., family planning, women’s health reproductive care, etc.).

General Sister to Sister Training Information

Setting to Implement Sister to Sister:
Sister to Sister should be implemented in a primary health care setting (e.g., primary care clinic, family planning clinic, STD clinic, or agency clinic site). Agencies that are not able and willing to implement Sister to Sister in a clinic-based setting will not be considered to attend a training.

Staff Recommended to Attend:
CDC recommends that two staff who will serve as facilitators and conduct the intervention sessions attend the training. The facilitators for Sister to Sister should be health care providers (e.g., a nurse, health educator, social worker, etc.) Staff who will have a direct role in implementing Sister-to-Sister, such as the direct supervisors of the Sister to Sister facilitators, may attend the training.

Research and Development

Jemmott, L.S., Jemmott, J.B., & O’Leary, A. (2007). Effects on sexual risk behavior and STD rate of brief HIV/STD prevention interventions for African American women in primary settings. American Journal of Public Health, 97(6), 1-7.

Program Review Panel Information

The CDC requires all CDC-funded agencies using the Sister to Sister intervention to identify, or establish, and utilize a Program Review Panel and complete Form 0.1113 to document this activity. The intervention researchers and developers are not involved in this activity. This is a CDC requirement for their grantees, and all questions in this regard should be directed to your agency's CDC Project Officer or to the health department funding your agency's implementation of the intervention.

The Program Review Panel guidelines, instructions for completion of Form 0.113, and the form itself are available under the Related Links section of the this website.

CDC Policy on Youth Peer Outreach Workers

CDC funded (directly or indirectly) agencies using youth (either paid or volunteer) in program outreach activities need to use caution and judgement in the venues/situations where youth workers are placed. Agencies should give careful consideration to the "age appropriateness" of the activity or venue. Additionally, agencies should comply with all relevant laws and regulations regarding entrance into adult establishments/environments. Laws and curfews should be clearly outlined in required safety protocols developed and implemented by agencies directly and indirectly funded by CDC.

If you have specific questions, please contact your CDC project officer.