Multimedia WORTH

Partner(s): Nabila El-Bassel Social Intervention Group, School of Social Work Access: Private Released: October 2009

Multimedia WORTH (Women On The Road To Health) is the web-based version of an HIV prevention program that teaches communication and negotiation skills, delivers health information, and facilitates empowerment and feelings of self worth to at-risk women in the criminal justice system. CCNMTL is partnering with the Social Intervention Group at the Columbia School of Social Work to develop and test the WORTH tool to support health facilitators in delivering both group and individual intervention sessions. Faculty partner Nabila El-Bassel will conduct a randomized control trial funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) to test the efficacy of Multimedia WORTH in increasing condom use, decreasing the incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and reducing substance use among 432 drug involved female offenders in an Alternative-to-Incarceration (ATI) program in New York City.

Facilitators and participants using Multimedia WORTH will supplement face-to-face discussion with the use of laptop computers during their weekly group meetings. Key improvements over the traditional intervention model include a visual "road map" for facilitators and participants, interactive activities for group and independent use, customized journals for participants, and supervision reports for the study team. Once completed, elements of the multimedia environment will be used to train Columbia social work students who are preparing for careers in the criminal justice system.

The Multimedia WORTH is a Triangle Initiative project.

Related project categories:
Custom Software Applications and Tools | Medicine and Health | Social Work | Training