# ENTRUST - economic navigation and strengthening to realize unrestricted services for transgender women

> **NIH NIH DP2** · UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA · 2023 · $2,280,000

## Abstract

Background: Transgender women commonly live in poverty and have among the highest risk for substance
use and HIV transmission, yet existing programs fail to address how structural factors such as socio-economic
status and social marginalization are significant barriers to care and survival. The study objective is to evaluate
the effect of a novel intervention called ‘ENTRUST’ (economic navigation and strengthening to realize
unrestricted services for transgender women) that will combine group-based financial skill-building training with
adapted screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment (SBIRT) counseling. Study aims are:
Aim 1: To develop and pretest ENTRUST, an HIV status-neutral intervention consisting of group-based financial
skill-building training with adapted SBIRT to increase social cohesion and financial skills (e.g., budgeting,
financial goals setting) among transgender women, and facilitate linkage to substance use and HIV care/PrEP.
The ADAPT-ITT framework will be used to create ENTRUST and pretest it in a sample of n=10
Aim 2: To conduct a pilot RCT among (n=80) transgender women to evaluate acceptability, feasibility, and
preliminary efficacy of ENTRUST on a) linkage to substance use and HIV care/PrEP; b) economic strengthening
and social cohesion. Participants will be randomized to the ENTRUST intervention arm (adapted SBIRT +
economic navigation and strengthening) or the standard of care (adapted SBIRT) wait-listed control. To assess
social cohesion, as well as other outcomes associated with linking to substance use and HIV care/PrEP and
economic strengthening, Photovoice will be used to document and exhibit participant’s experiences.
Aim 3: To examine the implementation of ENTRUST in group settings as guided by the Reach, Effectiveness,
Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework. Sequential, explanatory mixed methods will
be used to evaluate participant’s perspectives on key implementation outcomes of acceptability, feasibility, and
satisfaction and their interventional experiences, and, perceptions of programmatic sustainability.
 PI Cyrus, a trained social epidemiologist with a history of community engaged research, will lead a team of
experts on health economics, microfinance, and sustainable economic interventions; implementation science
and RCT evaluation; intervention implementation in group/community settings; development and implementation
of substance use and HIV interventions in transgender populations; and advanced statistical methods.
 Significance: ENTRUST has the potential to shift regional and national policy by providing evidence of trans
women’s needs and sustainable and practical approaches that can improve their overall health and productivity.
In alignment with NIDA and Office of SGM research priorities, the proposed study will overcome structural and
psychosocial barriers to facilitate trans women linking to substance use and HIV care/PrEP to reduce substance
misuse and HIV inci...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10683578
- **Project number:** 1DP2DA058436-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA
- **Principal Investigator:** Elena Cyrus
- **Activity code:** DP2 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $2,280,000
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-06-15 → 2025-03-14

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10683578

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10683578, ENTRUST - economic navigation and strengthening to realize unrestricted services for transgender women (1DP2DA058436-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10683578. Licensed CC0.

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