PLACE Implemented in Haiti

In collaboration with Fondation pour la Santé Reproductrice et l’Education Familiale (FOSREF), the primary provider of youth reproductive health services in Haiti, MEASURE Evaluation technical advisers adapted the Priorities for Local AIDS Control Efforts (PLACE) method tools for local use. Representatives from key stakeholders in Haiti used the adapted tools to implement PLACE in Bizoton and Thor, two neighborhoods within Carrefour (part of the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area). 

Young people between the ages of 15-24 are at particular risk of exposure to HIV and are often a key target group found at venues identified by the PLACE method. To better understand HIV prevention needs of young people in Port-au-Prince, MEASURE Evaluation and FOSREF modified the standard PLACE approach to emphasize more specifically the locations where Haitian youth congregate. The PLACE assessment in Haiti has allowed FOSREF to determine unmet reproductive health needs of youth socializing in these high-risk venues and to modify their strategies to address these needs.

Data from the PLACE study have been used for further analysis of youth sexual risk-taking. In particular, one study examines whether youth who experienced forced sexual debut are at greater risk of negative reproductive health outcomes and high-risk sexual behaviors.  Another study compares youth surveyed using the PLACE methodology to two other study design approaches--clinic-based data collection and population-based data collection.  Youth surveyed in the PLACE study tend to be at higher risk of HIV and lower risk of an unintended pregnancy than youth in the other samples. 

Download Risk-Taking Behaviors among Youth Socializing in Target Venues of Carrefour, Haiti: Adaptation of the Priorities for Local AIDS Control Efforts (PLACE) Methodology here.