The Wheel Project. Women Helping to Empower and Enhance Lives.

The Women Helping to Empower and Enhance Lives (WHEEL) Project focused on female sexual partners of injection drug users (i.d.u.s). It was conducted in five sites, three within and two outside the continental United States. The study's two main intervention goals were to (a) reduce HIV-related sexual risk behaviors and (b) reduce HIV-related drug risk behaviors. The Project also featured needs assessment, planning, and staff training components. Baseline data were collected on 2,794 women, which made this the largest study of noninjecting female sexual partners of i.d.u.s in the United States. Six-month follow-up data were obtained on 1,953 women. The Wheel Project tested two interventions: an individual intervention and a group intervention. The study found significant reductions in drug use and risky sexual behaviors for the 6-month follow-up sample for both interventions. These changes were substantial and point to the viability of both interventions for this population of sexual partners of injection drug users.