About PowerOn

• Description
• Goals
• History
• Components
• Research
• Tour
• Pricing

Description

PowerOn is a national web-based community and individual level intervention HIV and STD prevention. Prevention content is deployed through customized micro-sites for cities and regions. The system enables referrals to local testing and service agencies, connecting the disparate referral network into a consolidated online resource system. As a turn-key or 'out of the box' program, the local agency needs no technical expertise or training. PowerOn saves agency staff time and dollars in developing the complex theory, intervention methods, program delivery, marketing, fundraising and evaluation design. Developed by the University of Washington’s Social Work Department, PowerOn has been supported by the National Institute of Health and the Centers for Disease Control.

Goals of the PowerOn:

• To provide personalized information via the internet (instant messages, chat rooms, website and email) about HIV and STDs, issues related to risk-taking (e.g., self esteem, substance abuse, isolation, depression), and prevention-related community resources (HIV/STD counseling and testing, mental health/substance abuse treatment, support groups, medical care for persons with HIV)
• To increase rates of testing for HIV among persons who have never tested or have not tested within the last 12 months
• To facilitate use of prevention-related community resources (HIV/STD counseling and testing, mental health/substance abuse treatment, support groups, medical care for persons with HIV)
• To shape online norms (in chatrooms and personal profiles) toward expectancies of safer sex behaviors

PowerOn History:

The PowerOn Project began in January 2002 in Seattle, Washington following the submission and approval of a grant to the Department of Public Health Seattle King County. The program started as an online outreach project in the HIV/AIDS Project Development and Evaluation Unit (HAPDEU), a unit within the School of Social Work, at the University of Washington. Led by Director Keith Barland, HAPDEU designs community-based HIV and STD educational programs and services, with a strong focus on evaluation.

The design of PowerOn was based on research conducted by HAPDEU into online outreach interventions and the growing awareness that men who have sex with men (MSM) were using the Internet to find information and sexual and social connections through internet chat rooms. The PowerOn website presents information in a visually compelling, straightforward and non-technical way. It is promoted through banner ads, brochures and display advertising in local papers, as well as online outreach performed in local chat rooms. In addition, Health Education volunteers visit chat rooms, and if appropriate, refer participants to the website or to specific information on the site through electronic PowerOn postcards.

PowerOn's strength is its ability to embed customizable community referral links and resources into the graphic award-winning PowerOn website template, enabling sponsoring organizations to provide and support a localized version of the PowerOn site. Links on the local website directly connect individuals to community resources, such as public health and educational organizations. In this way, local sites provide a means for healthcare workers and volunteers to reach out to their community.

In 2004, Kansas-based Healthy Living Projects, Inc. (HLP) adopted the PowerON model for the Kansas City metropolitan area. Poweronkansascity.org, a PowerON website, was created, and HLP outreach workers went through the PowerON HIV/STDtraining certification program. Counselors conducted chatroom-based counseling sessions in Gay.com, which dramatically increased offline testing and service delivery.

In 2008, npT Labs purchased the rights to the national license of PowerOn from the University of Washington, and complimented the product with a referral and conversation tracking tool. Today, the program is in 15 communities and recognized as an innovative approach to sexual health education and communication.

PowerOn Program Components:

PowerOn contains the following program components. For a tour, click here >>

• Customized Website: The PowerOn website contains hundreds pages of health content, videos, blogs and local resources. Agencies can customize the website using a special url, such as poweronyourcity.org or subdomain the website like poweron.youragency.org.
• Online Referrals: Your staff can create customized confidential referrals by tags, like HIV test, for clients you meet online in social networks or via email. These referrals are trackable, delivering a monthly overview of how many referrals are actually accessed and the impact of your staff
• Conversation Tracker: When staff chat with MSMs online, they can paste the conversation into the conversation tracker keeping an online record of all chats. These records are accessible 24/7 and in report form, for reporting and quality-control.
• Training: Videos and training materials are provided online for all staff on the software and outreach methods. Additional onsite training is available.