
These PowerPoint slides present an overview of the intervention and are available from the CDC Effective Interventions HIV Prevention that Works website.
Popular Opinion Leader (POL) is a community-level intervention designed to reduce HIV risk behaviors through the use of credible opinion leaders who diffuse social norms of safer sex practices throughout their social networks. The organization that implements POL identifies, recruits, and supports opinion leaders to model and promote HIV risk reduction through conversations with friends and acquaintances. Each POL initiative responds to community needs in collaboration with its members.
POL conducts formative research to identify the target population, social networks, opinion leaders, and HIV prevention-related norms. Opinion leaders recruited from the target population train on risk reduction methods and effective communication strategies to change peer norms; they also practice talking about risk reduction. Leaders are expected to engage in at least 14 conversations with friends and acquaintances. The organization implementing POL can support its leaders by hosting reunions or parties. These events encourage leaders to continue modeling positive opinions around HIV prevention.
Popular Opinion Leader is based on the Diffusion of Innovation Theory which posits that behaviors typically follow adoption by opinion leaders and then spread through a social network. The intervention was tested with men who have sex with men (MSM) in small- to medium-sized Southern towns, minority women in low-income housing developments in five geographically diverse U.S. cities, and male sex workers and patrons in Manhattan gay bars. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), POL outcomes included:
Site Activities
Participant Activities
A 3-day in-person training on Popular Opinion Leader is available from Danya International. Training resources and specifications are available from CDC Effective Interventions HIV Prevention that Works website.