Screening: Peer Recruiters Increase Voluntary Testing

HHD's research on clinic- and community-based interventions has demonstrated effective ways to increase voluntary HIV testing. With funding from CDC, we found that training high-risk women as "peer recruiters" can motivate others to voluntarily test for HIV.

In a brief training session, women at high risk of HIV infection themselves were trained to approach both men and women in their social networks, talk to them about confidential HIV testing available at a local clinic, and answer the most common objections both men and women tend to raise about testing. This strategy substantially increased the number of voluntary test-takers.