1. Presented at AIDS 2010 in Vienna - Austria Teen Talk (Botswana Edition): A Question and Answer Guide for HIV-Positive Adolescents Edward Pettitt, Julia Rosebush, M. Gabriel Anabwani, Agatha Offorjebe, Ntobeledzi Boitumelo, Katlego Koboto Botswana-Baylor Children’s Clinical Centre of Excellence Gaborone, Botswana Issues More than 3,000 adolescents will be receiving antiretroviral (ARV) medications in Botswana by the year 2011. Adolescence is associated with emotional turbulence, an inability to maintain responsibility for personal well-being, and difficulty internalizing and processing abstract concepts. Furthermore, there is a lack of accurate, holistic and youth- friendly informational materials available to HIV-positive adolescents on how to live a healthy life. Description The Botswana edition of Teen Talk, a question and answer guide for HIV-positive adolescents, was adapted from the original version published in the United States by Weiner and Wood in 2004. Adaptation and pretesting involved the participation of staff and clients of the Botswana-Baylor Children's Clinical Centre of Excellence, including 2 local doctors, 1 psychologist, 1 social worker, 2 lay volunteers and 10 adolescent peer educators. The US version contains 4 sections with 37 questions whereas the revised Botswana edition contains 14 sections and 84 questions. Sections on sex (18*), emotions (13), friendship (5), and future planning (2) were edited for cultural relevancy. In line with Ministry of Health priorities in Botswana, sections on Safe Male Circumcision (4), Positive Prevention (7), Multiple Concurrent Partnerships (2), and Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission (3) were added. Sections on HIV (3), ARVs (6), adherence (4), disclosure (6), nutrition (6) and exercise (5) were expanded. The guide has been translated into the local language of Setswana. *Number of questions in section. Lessons Learned Adolescents living with HIV require information about healthy decision-making and how it relates to their infection in order to live positively and avoid treatment failure. Feedback from adolescents involved in the initial rollout of the Teen Talk guide has been overwhelmingly positive regarding its use as an information source. Next Steps The Teen Talk guide was officially launched in Botswana on June 16 th, 2010, in commemoration of Day of the African Child. Next steps include the following: 1. National roll-out to all health districts in Botswana via ARV hospitals. 2. Adaptation, translation and rollout at other international Teen Club sites. 3. Development of a comprehensive adolescent treatment literacy toolkit including supplementary materials to accompany the Teen Talk guide. 4. Further research regarding the efficacy of the guide on knowledge acquisition and behavior change amongst HIV- positive adolescents. Teen Talk is a question and answer guide for HIV-positive teenagers that covers a variety of topics including ARVs, adherence, friendship, nutrition, exercise, reproductive health, positive prevention, multiple concurrent partnerships, safe male circumcision, prevention of mother to child transmission, emotions and disclosure. http://botswanateenclub.wordpress.com botswanateenclub@gmail.com The Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative (BIPAI) Teen Club Program is the largest network of peer support groups for HIV-positive adolescents in the world! Visit our website for more information!