# Development and pilot testing of a PrEP communication intervention and integration into existing HIV testing services for female IV drug using clients of a needle exchange

> **NIH NIH R34** · TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH · 2020 · $158,500

## Abstract

Project Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic mitigation measures are difficult for those with substance use disorder (SUD), who
are more likely to be unstably housed and do not have the economic means to comply. They may also not
have access to correct communication messages about their risk. Agencies that provide services to those with
SUD, such as syringe exchanges and other harm reduction organizations, have to weigh providing services to
their clients against providing a safe workspace for their employees. These organizations have had to quickly
implement response plans in tandem with a fast-moving pandemic, making potential mistakes in both
messaging to clients and response to COVID-19. This has implications for how best to plan for a future
outbreak. The primary objective of this study is to understand how best to provide harm reduction services to
those with SUD in an infectious disease outbreak like COVID-19 by understanding how a large syringe
exchange plans for and implements a plan and how clients conceptualize an outbreak, prioritize it within the
context of their other daily risks, and determine what they expect from an agency that provides them harm
reduction services. To do this, we will retrospectively investigate how COVID-19 was prioritized by clients of a
Philadelphia syringe exchange and how organizational decisions about risk mitigation helped or hurt that
prioritization. Utilizing the RE-AIM Implementation Framework as a guide, we will use a mixed methods
approach with qualitative in-depth interviews, quantitative mathematically modeled maps from commercial
marketing techniques, and a comprehensive review of planning documents, mitigation policies, and
implementation plans. Specific aims are: 1. Assess perceptions of COVID-19 messaging. We will survey
clients (n=100) and syringe exchange staff (n=50) and use perceptual mapping and vector modeling analysis
to understand how communication of COVID-19 was processed and to inform development of more targeted
and effective communication and messaging for future events.; and, 2. Analyze organizational response and
COVID-19 plan implementation and develop an action plan. Using the RE-AIM Implementation Framework,
we will perform an analysis of framework domains by conducting an implementation assessment. We will use
survey data, conduct in-depth interviews with syringe exchange leadership (n=6), staff (n=15) and clients
(n=15) and do a comprehensive review of planning documents and implementation of mitigation policies to
understand how the planning and implementation was carried out. This analysis will then inform strategies for
future responses through the development of an action plan. These methods aim to elucidate perceptions of
COVID-19 messaging and assess decision making around the response from all stakeholders to better
understand how to provide targeted communication and evidence-informed responses to potential new waves
of this outbreak or similar future outbreaks.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10156173
- **Project number:** 3R34DA046305-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH
- **Principal Investigator:** Sarah B Bass
- **Activity code:** R34 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $158,500
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-03-15 → 2022-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10156173

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10156173, Development and pilot testing of a PrEP communication intervention and integration into existing HIV testing services for female IV drug using clients of a needle exchange (3R34DA046305-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10156173. Licensed CC0.

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