NIMH Stimulus Funds Awarded for Latino HIV Prevention

When the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was signed into law in February of 2009, the billions of dollars allocated for the health care industry were anxiously anticipated by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The Obama Administration promised changes, and many HHS programs were in serious need of funds to begin incorporating them. In total, there was approximately $137 billion set aside for HHS programs, much of which has been distributed, and in the last few days of May, HIV prevention programs received some of their funds as well.

One investment of these funds is being spent on a two-year grant that was awarded through the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and sent to David Perez-Jimenez, Ph.D., at the University of Puerto Rico in an effort to advance science and health, specifically an HIV prevention program aimed at young, heterosexual Latino couples.

The study planned by Perez-Jimenez will research possible modifications to an HIV program that also focuses on other sexually transmitted infections, to focus on Latinos according to the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills (IMB) model of behavior change, the foundation of which is the notion that risk reduction and prevention behavior relies on the spread of HIV and other infections. Benefactors of the program will learn about HIV/AIDS, how to avoid infection, and how and why to change their behavior accordingly.

Research will begin with group sessions that urge the use of condoms, safer sexual behavior, and monogamous relationships. Information will be gathered and put to use in the second part of the study, which will involve an intervention program with 75 couples who are at risk of HIV infection through current lifestyle choices. The couples will be studied while being aided in changing habits and choices to lead disease-free lives.

In the end, the research will be compiled and studied to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention programs through results garnered from the participants themselves. The National Institute of Mental Health hopes to incorporate new information into future programs aimed at helping the most at-risk youth groups in the country and stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.

NIMH director Thomas R. Insel, M.D. said, “With Recovery Act funds, we’re now able to support a number of meritorious and innovative research studies, such as proposed by Dr. Perez Jimenez, that were simply out of reach of our existing budget. Our plan is to use Recovery Act funds not only to support meritorious proposals that were previously out of reach, but to supplement current efforts, expediting progress towards our goal of profoundly reducing HIV infection.”

Perez-Jimenez is researcher with Puerto Rico’s University Center for Psychological Research. His post-doctoral studies focused on the HIV/AIDS Research Support Program at the school, and his journals on the subject matter have been published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States. Recognized by many for his tireless work in this area of concentration, he will begin a new phase of his work with the upcoming study, one whose results will be anticipated by many in the mental health and medical communities.