# Motivational enhancement to augment contingency management for SARS-CoV-2 testing and vaccination utilization among syringe exchange clients

> **NIH NIH U01** · UNIVERSITY OF OREGON · 2022 · $1,095,176

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 People who inject drugs (PWIDs) are highly vulnerable to contracting SARS-CoV-2 and to the effects of the
disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). PWIDs experience underlying
medical conditions and unstable housing that put them at increased risk for COVID-19 morbidity and mortality.
PWIDs also experience barriers such as a history of stigmatization and discrimination by health care systems
and exposure to misinformation that reduces access to health care services, such as SARS-CoV-2 testing and
vaccination. The proposed project builds on our Phase I Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics project (#67; PI:
Stormshak) that successfully embedded SARS-CoV-2 testing into syringe exchange programs (SEPs) across
the state of Oregon, in collaboration with HIV Alliance (HIVA). The testing program’s success is linked to a
contingency management (CM) intervention that increased the rates of testing utilization from 4% to 24% (d =
1.36), even as nationwide testing utilization was decreasing. The first aim of the proposed project is to test the
sustained effectiveness of CM on testing outcomes, given the current context of increasing COVID-19 vaccine
accessibility. Testing remains critical to prevent the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among PWIDs who continue
to be at high exposure risk, and for whom vaccine hesitancy is high. We will also leverage our partnership with
HIVA to establish a COVID-19 vaccine program at HIVA’s SEPs. The second aim is to conduct a randomized
control trial (RCT) to examine whether a brief motivational enhancement (ME) intervention (i.e., Connect2Test)
augments the effects of CM on SARS-CoV-2 testing and vaccination uptake. Our Phase I study demonstrates
that CM improves SARS-CoV-2 testing utilization. CM is also known to increase immunization rates against
other infectious diseases, such as Hepatitis B. Additionally, consistent with research showing that ME
enhances the effects of CM on health behavior outcomes, we anticipate that Connect2Test will augment CM’s
effects on testing and vaccination among PWIDs. Moreover, because ME elicits and strengthens motivation for
long-term behavior change, whereas CM prompts immediate and short-term behavior change, we anticipate
that CM + ME, versus CM alone, will have long-term effects on SARS-CoV-2 testing, evidenced by
participation in repeated testing over time. The third aim of the proposed project is to assess CM and
Connect2Test implementation, including a cost-effectiveness analysis of CM alone versus CM plus
Connect2Test, to improve long-term sustainability of testing, vaccination, and intervention approaches to
mitigate the spread of SARS-CoV-2.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10447247
- **Project number:** 1U01DA055982-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
- **Principal Investigator:** Camille C Cioffi
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $1,095,176
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-01-15 → 2023-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10447247

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10447247, Motivational enhancement to augment contingency management for SARS-CoV-2 testing and vaccination utilization among syringe exchange clients (1U01DA055982-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10447247. Licensed CC0.

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