ETR Begins Online Training Project

ETR Associates is partnering with Monarch Media, a Santa Cruz-based, woman-owned small business that specializes in e-learning, on a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to develop an innovative online training. This is the third large-scale online training project ETR has been awarded.

Funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the two-year "24/7 Training: Improving HIV Prevention for African-American Youth" project will develop and evaluate an online training to help community youth workers effectively lead the Focus on Youth (FOY) curriculum. Published by ETR, FOY is an 8-session, highly interactive, evidence-based HIV prevention program developed specifically for African-American youth (12-15 years old) in community settings.

This training will address an important health need---the disproportionately high rate of HIV/AIDS in African-American communities in the United States. It will also provide a much needed alternative to face-to-face trainings. The training will utilize proven learning strategies and incorporate innovations in online learning, such as highly interactive, media-rich simulations and user-generated content.

To test the effectiveness of the training, approximately 230 pairs of community youth workers will be recruited to participate in a randomized controlled trial study. The findings from this study will contribute a model for training community youth workers to effectively implement FOY. The online skills-based training developed under this grant will provide an accessible, low-cost, "always-on" training and implementation support service.

For more information on the FOY project please contact Regina Firpo-Triplett, Senior Program Manager with ETR's Center for Sexual and Reproductive Health Promotion, at reginaf@etr.org.