High Impact for Whom? A Qualitative Analysis of Organization Concerns About the Transition to High-Impact Prevention Policy

HIV represents a significant health burden in the United States. In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stopped recommending many once-promoted interventions as part of a shift from one HIV intervention policy, Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Interventions (DEBI), to another, High Impact Prevention (HIP). Twenty-nine staff members from 10 organizations were interviewed to explore how organizations reacted to this shift. Three major themes emerged: (1) Personal experience, community assessment, and epidemiological evidence influenced organizations’ perceptions of efficacy and preference for earlier interventions. (2) Organizations were concerned that HIP interventions were not a good fit for their priority populations. (3) Organizations were frustrated with the top-down approach by the CDC prioritizing HIP interventions over earlier interventions. These results indicate that organizations continue to see value in and provide DEBI interventions. In addition, a more participatory process incorporating qualitative evidence and organizations’ experiences may be necessary to achieve widespread de-implementation of DEBI interventions.