# LetSync: An mHealth approach to HIV care engagement among black men in couples

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · 2021 · $99,909

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT (Original proposal)
Based on current diagnoses rates, one in two Black men-who-have-sex-with-men (BMSM) will be diagnosed
with HIV during their lifetime. Interventions to optimize retention in care and adherence to antiretroviral therapy
(ART) among BMSM are urgently needed to reduce HIV racial disparities. Dyadic intervention approaches are
promising, given that nearly half of BMSM living with HIV are in primary relationships, and are consistent with
calls for research with BMSM to focus beyond the individual level. Our preliminary research with BMSM in
couples finds that the primary relationship is often the main resource in meeting needs in HIV care
engagement. BMSM couples engage in joint problem-solving and dyadic coordination of care that entail
synchronizing and co-organizing schedules, activities, and behaviors around treatment and care. We also
found that dyadic coordination and joint problem-solving in care engagement may be more common among
BMSM couples with greater couple’s resilience, defined as the couple’s capacity to overcome shared adversity
that buffers against the strains of social and structural factors on health and wellbeing for BMSM. Based on our
preliminary work and extant research, we developed a theoretical Framework of Dyadic HIV Care Engagement
to guide this research. Smartphones are ubiquitous among BMSM of various ages and socioeconomic
backgrounds, and mobile technology for health (mHealth) is feasible, acceptable, and effective as HIV
interventions among BMSM. We have developed initial designs for a BMSM-couple-focused intervention
application (app), LetSync, to improve retention in care and ART adherence. BMSM couples showed a great
interest in this approach. However, critical issues remain, such as the need for a deeper understanding of how
dyadic processes interrelate to bolster dyadic capacity, how they may be targeted in an mHealth intervention,
and the need for piloting intervention components and features. As such, the aims to this R01 are as follows.
Aim 1 will involve investigating interrelated dyadic processes in HIV care engagement (couple’s resilience, joint
problem-solving, dyadic coordination) through in-depth interviews with BMSM in 12 seroconcordant-positive
and 12 serodiscordant couples (24 couples, N=48) guided by our conceptual framework. Aim 2 will develop a
couple’s mHealth intervention informed by Aim 1 and our prior mHealth designs, through iterative app
development with a community advisory council of BMSM couples and a mini-pilot of the app prototype,
intervention protocols, and procedures. Aim 3 will entail a randomized, waitlist-controlled pilot trial with 80
couples (N=160) to assess its acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary impact on retention in care and ART
adherence as measured by antiretroviral concentrations in hair. Findings from the proposed research are
critical for informing a subsequent full-scale RCT to test the efficacy of LetSync in improving...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10334358
- **Project number:** 3R01MH118967-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
- **Principal Investigator:** Judy You Rong Tan
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $99,909
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2021-06-16 → 2022-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10334358

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10334358, LetSync: An mHealth approach to HIV care engagement among black men in couples (3R01MH118967-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10334358. Licensed CC0.

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