This article describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of the Condom Campaign, a 1995 HIV prevention program promoting condom use among sexually active adolescents in three King County, Washington, urban communities. This program employed three main strategies: (a) mobilizing all levels of the target communities to support and guide program development and implementation; (b) creating and implementing a mass media campaign targeting sexually active teenagers that promoted correct condom use and favorable attitudes toward condoms; and (c) recruiting public agencies, community organizations, and businesses to distribute condoms from bins and vending machines. We evaluated the program through a series of cross-sectional interviews conducted in the three communities chosen for their elevated levels of adolescent sexual risk behavior. Overall, 73% of target youth reported exposure to the Condom Campaign; exposure did not differ by age, gender, race, or level of sexual experience. Levels of sexual activity remained stable throughout the media campaign.
PIP: This paper describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of the Condom Campaign, a 1995 HIV prevention program promoting condom use among sexually active adolescents in three King County, Washington, urban communities. The three main strategies employed by the program were: 1) mobilizing all levels of the target communities to support and guide program development and implementation; 2) creating and implementing a mass media campaign targeting sexually active teenagers that promoted correct condom use and favorable attitudes toward condoms; and 3) recruiting public agencies, community organizations, and businesses to distribute condoms from bins and vending machines. The program was evaluated through a series of cross-sectional interviews conducted in the three communities chosen for their elevated levels of adolescent sexual risk behavior. Overall, 73% of target youths reported exposure to the Condom Campaign. The exposure did not differ by age, gender, race, or level of sexual experience. The proportion of youths currently sexually active did not increase in conjunction with the Condom Campaign.