# STRIDES (Strategies To Reduce Intersectional Drug usE Stigma): A mixed-methods, human-centered approach to address barriers to HIV services

> **NIH NIH R21** · RESEARCH TRIANGLE INSTITUTE · 2021 · $245,940

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 The US South has a greater proportion of HIV transmission associated with drug use than any other US
region, and African Americans are disproportionately affected. Drug use stigma is a significant barrier to
engagement and retention at every stage of the HIV prevention and care continuum. HIV-related stigma-
reduction interventions in healthcare settings have shown positive outcomes, feasibility, and acceptability in
the US and globally. However, few of these interventions address drug use stigma. Consequently, there is a
critical need to understand how drug use stigma impacts engagement and retention in HIV services for
African Americans who use drugs and to develop targeted interventions and programs to reduce drug use
stigma. Failing to elucidate and actively address drug use stigma will result in stigma remaining a barrier to
HIV services for a key population and in the region most affected by HIV in the US.
 The long-term goal is to develop an evidence-based drug use stigma-reduction intervention that can be
implemented in HIV services, and ultimately reduce racial disparities in the HIV prevention and care
continuum. The overarching objective for the proposed project is to use mixed methods to elucidate how
drug-related stigma impacts engagement and retention in HIV services and use these findings to select,
adapt, and pretest an evidence-informed HIV stigma-reduction intervention to address drug use stigma and
other intersecting forms of stigma.
 The Specific Aims are:
 Aim 1. To conduct mixed methods research to assess and examine drug use stigma in human service
 settings among people who use drugs and health clinic staff.
 Aim 2. To select and adapt an evidence-informed HIV stigma curriculum to reduce drug use stigma and
 discrimination and to increase/improve engagement and retention in the HIV prevention and care
 continuum among people who use drugs.
 Aim 3. To pretest the adapted stigma and discrimination reduction curriculum to evaluate preliminary
 acceptability and feasibility.
 This research is innovative because it will shift current research paradigms regarding drug use stigma via
the use of human-centered and status-neutral approaches. The proposed formative research will lay the
groundwork for subsequent research to test the efficacy and preliminary impact of the tailored drug use
stigma-reduction intervention. This study aligns with the high-priority areas identified in the NIH HIV/AIDS
Research Priorities, specifically research to ultimately reduce health disparities in HIV incidence.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10233273
- **Project number:** 1R21DA053694-01
- **Recipient organization:** RESEARCH TRIANGLE INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** Felicia Amira Browne
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $245,940
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-05-01 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10233273

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10233273, STRIDES (Strategies To Reduce Intersectional Drug usE Stigma): A mixed-methods, human-centered approach to address barriers to HIV services (1R21DA053694-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10233273. Licensed CC0.

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