# Longitudinal Text Messaging Educational Campaign to Increase PrEP Prescription among Medical Providers in Orange County, FL

> **NIH NIH P30** · YALE UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $251,042

## Abstract

Orlando, Florida ranks fifth in the nation for the highest rates of new HIV diagnoses, according
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services' (HHS) Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America (EHE) identified Orange County,
Florida among counties and states of high concern with respect to new HIV diagnoses. Pre-
exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a highly effective medication for HIV prevention, but PrEP
uptake continues to lag among HIV-negative populations who need it the most. In Orange
County, Florida, there were 2037 PrEP users in 2020, and at least 126 of them are female PrEP
users, yielding a rate similar to the national average of 6% of PrEP users being women, but the
data are not further disaggregated to reflect race and gender of PrEP users. These rates are not
enough to outpace the number of new HIV diagnoses being given to Orange County residents.
Meanwhile, Black women account for 67% of new HIV diagnoses among women in the South,
and are the majority of Florida women receiving new HIV diagnoses. PrEP care requires clinical
visits, laboratory services, provider training, and financing. Healthcare providers play a critical
role in HIV prevention by prescribing PrEP. However, evidence suggests that a critically low
number of providers eligible to prescribe PrEP do so. While there are numerous mHealth
interventions for high-risk individuals to initiate and promote adherence to PrEP, only one
evidence-based intervention that targets healthcare providers has been developed. The proposed
project is an implementation supplement to address the EHE plan involving collaboration with
the Orange County Department of Health. This study aims to adopt an existing evidence-based
mHealth intervention to provide knowledge-based training and support to healthcare providers
to increase PrEP prescription to Black women in Orange County, Florida, a county with one of
the highest prevalence rates of HIV in the country. We propose the following aims: 1) To assess
Orange County PrEP prescribers' PrEP knowledge and current willingness and readiness to
prescribe PrEP for women, especially Black women; and 2) To implement a longitudinal text-
messaging educational campaign targeting Orange County medical providers who can prescribe
PrEP, and assessing post-test PrEP knowledge and actual prescription. This project contributes
to two Orange County EHE Key Strategies and Activities: 1c: Educate primary care providers,
internal medicine and urgent care centers and pharmacies on PrEP and PEP; and 2b: Develop a
PrEP and PEP provider network to provide rapid access among primary care providers and
CBOs.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10601492
- **Project number:** 3P30MH062294-20S4
- **Recipient organization:** YALE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Trace S Kershaw
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $251,042
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2001-09-30 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10601492

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10601492, Longitudinal Text Messaging Educational Campaign to Increase PrEP Prescription among Medical Providers in Orange County, FL (3P30MH062294-20S4). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-12 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10601492. Licensed CC0.

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