{"id":1051,"date":"2026-09-24T23:07:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T23:07:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dubaistdclinic.com\/news\/?p=1051"},"modified":"2026-09-24T23:07:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T23:07:18","slug":"sti-and-hiv-infectionprevention-counseling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dubaistdclinic.com\/news\/sti-and-hiv-infectionprevention-counseling\/","title":{"rendered":"STI and HIV InfectionPrevention Counseling"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After obtaining a sexual history from their patients, all<br>providers should encourage risk reduction by offering<br>prevention counseling. Prevention counseling is most effective<br>if provided in a nonjudgmental and empathetic manner<br>appropriate to the patient\u2019s culture, language, sex and gender<br>identity, sexual orientation, age, and developmental level.<br>Prevention counseling for STIs and HIV should be offered<br>to all sexually active adolescents and to all adults who have<br>received an STI diagnosis, have had an STI during the<br>previous year, or have had multiple sex partners. USPSTF<br>recommends intensive behavioral counseling for all sexually<br>active adolescents and for adults at increased risk for STIs and<br>HIV (4). Such interactive counseling, which can be resource<br>intensive, is directed at a person\u2019s risk, the situations in which<br>risk occurs, and the use of personalized goal-setting strategies.<br>One such approach, known as client-centered STI and HIV<br>prevention counseling, involves tailoring a discussion of risk<br>reduction to the person\u2019s situation. Although one large study in<br>STI clinics (Project RESPECT) demonstrated that this approach<br>was associated with lower acquisition of curable STIs (e.g.,<br>trichomoniasis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis) (5), another<br>study conducted 10 years later in the same settings but different<br>contexts (Project AWARE) did not replicate this result (6).<br>With the challenges that intensive behavioral counseling poses,<br>health care professionals might find brief prevention messages<br>and those delivered through video or in a group session to be<br>more accessible for the client. A review of 11 studies evaluated<br>brief prevention messages delivered by providers and health<br>counselors and reported them to be feasible and to decrease<br>subsequent STIs in STD clinic settings (7) and HIV care<br>settings (8). Other approaches use motivational interviewing<br>to move clients toward achievable risk-reduction goals. Clientcentered<br>counseling and motivational interviewing can be used<br>effectively by clinicians and staff trained in these approaches.<br>CDC provides additional information on these and other<br>effective behavioral interventions at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/\">https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/<\/a><br>std\/program\/interventions.htm. Training in client-centered<br>counseling and motivational interviewing is available through<br>the STD National Network of Prevention Training Centers<br>(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nnptc.org\">https:\/\/www.nnptc.org<\/a>).<br>In addition to one-on-one STI and HIV prevention<br>counseling, videos and large group presentations can provide<br>explicit information concerning STIs and reducing disease<br>transmission (e.g., how to use condoms consistently and<br>correctly and the importance of routine screening). Groupbased<br>strategies have been effective in reducing the occurrence<br>of STIs among persons at risk, including those attending<br>STD clinics (9). Brief, online, electronic-learning modules for<br>young MSM have been reported to be effective in reducing<br>incident STIs and offer a convenient client platform for<br>effective interventions (10). Because the incidence of certain<br>STIs, most notably syphilis, is higher among persons with<br>HIV infection, use of client-centered STI counseling for<br>persons with HIV continues to be encouraged by public health<br>agencies and other health organizations (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/\">https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/<\/a><br>std\/statistics\/2019\/default.htm). A 2014 guideline from CDC,<br>the Health Resources and Services Administration, and the<br>National Institutes of Health recommends that clinical and<br>nonclinical providers assess a person\u2019s behavioral and biologic<br>risks for acquiring or transmitting STIs and HIV, including<br>having sex without condoms, having recent STIs, and having<br>partners recently treated for STIs (<a href=\"https:\/\/stacks.cdc.gov\/\">https:\/\/stacks.cdc.gov\/<\/a><br>view\/cdc\/44064). That federal guideline is for clinical and<br>nonclinical providers to offer or make referral for regular<br>screening for multiple STIs, on-site STI treatment when<br>indicated, and risk-reduction interventions tailored to the<br>person\u2019s risks. Brief risk-reduction counseling delivered by<br>medical providers during HIV primary care visits, coupled<br>with routine STI screening, has been reported to reduce STI<br>incidence among persons with HIV infection (8). Other<br>specific methods have been designed for the HIV care setting<br>(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/hiv\/effective-interventions\/index.html\">https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/hiv\/effective-interventions\/index.html<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After obtaining a sexual history from their patients, allproviders should encourage risk reduction by offeringprevention counseling. Prevention counseling is most effectiveif provided in a nonjudgmental and empathetic mannerappropriate to the patient\u2019s culture, language, sex and genderidentity, sexual orientation, age, and developmental level.Prevention counseling for STIs and HIV should be offeredto all sexually active adolescents and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-about-std"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubaistdclinic.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubaistdclinic.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubaistdclinic.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubaistdclinic.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubaistdclinic.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1051"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dubaistdclinic.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1052,"href":"https:\/\/dubaistdclinic.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051\/revisions\/1052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubaistdclinic.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubaistdclinic.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubaistdclinic.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}