Protect Yourself
In addition to our services for those living with HIV/AIDS, PATF offers the most extensive HIV prevention and educational programming in the region.
PATF offers free, anonymous HIV testing and counseling, including state-of-the-art Rapid HIV Testing, which allows those tested to receive their results in less than one hour. You can receive HIV testing and counseling as well as your results in a community-based setting deemed safe and confidential.
Sisters Informing Sisters on Topics about AIDS (SISTA) is a self-esteem/risk-reduction workshop series targeted to reach African American women. SISTA encourages responsible sexual behavior by empowering African American women - age 18-59 - to make educated decisions to protect their health and well being. PATF conducts SISTA workshops in a variety of settings, including the Allegheny County Jail.
Check our SISTA to Remember Newsletter!
Girlfriends Project.
A spin-off of SISTA, the nationally acclaimed Girlfriends Project is similar to a Tupperware Party format: Women volunteer to host informal health-education parties for friends. The parties focus on: HIV/AIDS education; domestic violence education; information, referral and resources; free HIV testing and counseling; and incentives for party hosts and guests. If you are interesting in hosting a Girlfriends Party, please call 412-345-7456, ext. 588 or email ldukes@patf.org
Partnering with the local Gay and Lesbian Community Center, PATF’s prevention specialist meets with GLBT teens to conduct HIV/AIDS educational workshops, and answer questions.
PATF also offers free HIV testing and distributes condoms and risk-reduction information at the Pittsburgh Eagle gay bar and club.
Coming Soon: Link to testing center locations and hours of operation.
Popular Opinion Leader.
The Popular Opinion Leader program focuses on young gay men. Through this program, leaders in the gay community receive HIV/AIDS training and are empowered to work to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS by educating their peers.
M2M.
PATF collaborated with Persad Center, the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, and the Pitt Men’s Study, to create M2M, a prevention program launched this fall that focuses on teaching men how to protect themselves and others. M2M's unique feature is that community stakeholders -- including members of M2M’s target audience, gay bar owners, PATF staff and volunteers – play a major role every step of the way. M2M's primary goal is to help men adopt behaviors that reduce their risk for HIV. M2M focuses on a person’s physical, emotional and psychological needs. Representatives spread the word to community stakeholders in a variety of settings: educational gatherings, house gatherings, interventions at bars, sex clubs, theatres and book stores, bingo, etc.