# Applying Behavioral Economic Incentives to Support Implementation of PrEP in a Trans Community Center

> **NIH NIH P30** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2022 · $270,614

## Abstract

PROJECT ABSTRACT
HIV prevalence is high among transgender and nonbinary (TGNB) individuals in the Ending the HIV Epidemic
(EHE) priority jurisdiction of Los Angeles County (LAC). HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an evidence-
based innovation and part of both the local LAC HIV Prevention Plan and the EHE `Prevent' pillar for individuals
with elevated risk for HIV exposure such as TGNB. However, uptake of PrEP remains low among TGNB
individuals in LAC, especially among TGNB individuals of color. Low uptake and persistence have been due to
numerous structural and economic barriers that have been previously identified in multiple studies as well as by
our team in LAC. Currently, there is high need to identify and test multilevel implementation strategies to improve
and accelerate PrEP uptake and persistence among at-risk TGNB individuals. Our uniquely qualified community-
academic collaborative research team proposes a sequential cohort deign19 where three cohorts of (n=25) TGNB
clients will be recruited from a trans community center currently implementing a community-led PrEP program
to collect preliminary data on the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary effects of three discrete behavioral
economic approaches for encouraging implementation and engagement with the a community-led PrEP
program. These three approaches Individual identity Behavioral Economic Incentives (IBEI), Community-based
Behavioral Economic Incentives (CBEI), and Staff-based Behavioral Economic Incentives (SBEI). Identity
economics, a type of BE, describes how economic actions are the result of the combination of monetary
incentives and the individual's identity or self-concept. This study will be the first test three discrete behavioral
economic strategies for implementing PrEP services in a Trans Community Center. The proposed supplement
will leverage the parent study PrEP Well, a 3-year California HIV/AIDS Research Program-funded
implementation science grant (CHRP: H21IS3484) to bring comprehensive and gender-affirming PrEP services
to scale in a first-of-its-kind transgender community center, TWC. Currently entering the second project year,
PrEP Well has fostered a strong community-academic research collaboration where we will be assessing
targeted strategies for implementing PrEP at TWC. Through our interviews and focus groups conducted during
the first year of the PrEP Well project with TWC staff, clients, community advisory board members, and other
key stakeholders it has become clear that providing behavioral economic approaches for PrEP uptake and
persistence that may simultaneously help address some of the myriad competing needs of TWC clients is
currently of high priority.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10600680
- **Project number:** 3P30MH058107-26S5
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Steven J Shoptaw
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $270,614
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 1997-09-30 → 2026-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10600680

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10600680, Applying Behavioral Economic Incentives to Support Implementation of PrEP in a Trans Community Center (3P30MH058107-26S5). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10600680. Licensed CC0.

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