Intergenerational communication on sexuality and HIV/AIDS: Exploring feasibility of building effective youth-adult partnerships to reduce young people\u27s HIV vulnerabilities

In India, over one-third of all reported AIDS cases occur among people aged 15–24 years. Young people need competencies to navigate daily-life situations and engage in productive activities, and the relationships they form with adults and peers are the source of support and guidance critical to the development of their competencies. The peer-based approach is integral to sexual health and HIV-prevention programs for youth. However, in some settings, program and policy directions have been hampered by adult beliefs of what young people should be permitted to know. Recent projects show that working on changing the norms and beliefs of adults in the community facilitates work with youth. However, program strategies remain ad-hoc possibly because of a lack of a clear and agreed-upon set of conditions to suggest the need for, as well as inform the design and implementation of, an intergenerational approach. This brief presents findings from a study that addresses this gap by documenting existing patterns of, and barriers to, intergenerational communication on sexuality and HIV/AIDS. It also provides information for designing interventions that promote effective youth-adult partnerships to address HIV risk