# Universal basic income and structural racism in the US South: Differences in HIV care utilization between low-income African American men living with HIV

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIV OF ARKANSAS FOR MED SCIS · 2022 · $371,512

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Universal Basic Income (UBI) is a promising strategy aimed at recalibrating economic systems that are
grounded in structural racism. Black men have long been the target of oppressive and interconnected systems
of finance and healthcare access, leading to a disproportionate burden of exposure to infectious disease with
little healthcare support. Yet to our knowledge, no published UBI studies have ever been implemented
exclusively with Black men living with HIV in the US. Motivated and inspired by the innovative health and social
science being conducted in extremely resource-limited environments in other parts of the world, we recognize
an urgent need to better understand the effect of cash transfers on HIV care among Black men in the US
South. The proposed study will be based in Arkansas, which, like other Southern states, has a long history of
institutional racism and extremely high rates of racial health disparities, poverty, and chronic disease. We will
use a mixed methods research design to conduct an in-depth exploration of a UBI intervention to reduce the
racial wage gap and promote the use of culturally relevant protective factors. The provision of a UBI is
intended to increase receipt and retention of HIV care services and treatment for Black men through the influx
of capital and subsequent increases in culturally-based protective factors such as personal agency and social
connections. We hypothesize that providing UBI of $500 per month for 6 months will result in increased HIV
care utilization among low-income Black men living with HIV. Secondarily, we hypothesize that the effect of
UBI will also increase adherence to HIV medication, such that more UBI recipients will achieve and maintain
viral suppression compared to individuals in the control condition.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10674200
- **Project number:** 3R01MD017509-01S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF ARKANSAS FOR MED SCIS
- **Principal Investigator:** Brooke E.E. Montgomery
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $371,512
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2022-05-14 → 2024-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10674200

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10674200, Universal basic income and structural racism in the US South: Differences in HIV care utilization between low-income African American men living with HIV (3R01MD017509-01S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10674200. Licensed CC0.

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