# Comprehensive Telehealth at Syringe Service Programs to Engage People Who Inject Drugs into the HIV Care Continuum

> **NIH NIH R34** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2024 · $239,148

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Biomedical breakthroughs over the past 30 years have dramatically improved treatment and prevention of HIV,
hepatitis C virus (HCV), and opioid use disorder (OUD). Yet uptake of these HIV-related evidence-based
interventions (EBI) remains distressingly low in populations that could benefit from them the most, notably
people who inject drugs (PWID).Three structural limitations of current health delivery practices must be
addressed to improve PWID access to HIV-related EBI: 1) the fragmented nature of the US healthcare system
that forces PWID to seek care for infectious diseases and OUD from different entities; 2) the prohibitive
administrative burdens of social programs such as Medicaid and Ryan White (complex eligibility requirements,
burdensome paperwork); and 3) severe stigma toward PWID in healthcare settings that leads to care
avoidance and poor retention in care. We propose an intervention that co-locates telehealth in syringe service
programs (SSP) to improve uptake and retention of two key EBI, PrEP and MOUD. Because their practices are
rooted in harm reduction principles and provide supplies that PWID routinely use, SSPs maintain strong client
follow-up and offer many points of entry into care. Telehealth offers a more cost-effective, adaptable, and
scalable model than in-person care, and recent service advances have generated a strong knowledge base for
remote delivery of HIV-related care. Our intervention will further address administrative burdens by placing
case managers on site to ease administrative burden, and by providing our telehealth providers with an
evidence based stigma reduction training pioneered by our team. Our work will take place in four SSP sites
across Minnesota which is currently experiencing an outbreak of HIV across racially and regionally diverse
communities of PWID. Aim 1. Conduct formative research on determinants of HIV and addiction among
racially and regionally diverse PWID to inform design of a co-located telehealth program. We will conduct in-
depth interviews with N=25 PWID and N=10 advocates from PWID-facing organizations. We will also develop
a tailored stigma reduction training for partnering providers using our proven experimental audit approach. Aim
2. Develop an integrative, low-barrier, low-stigma telehealth program for urban and rural PWID informed by
Aim 1 findings and input from PWID and providers. Share back of Aim 1 findings will be conducted with 3
advisory boards (rural PWID, urban PWID, providers) to enlist their insights in the design of the stigma
reduction training and key features of the telemedicine program. Aim 3. Pilot a telehealth intervention in
racially and regionally diverse SSPs to assess feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary impact. Uptake and
retention of PrEP and MOUD will be tracked for 6 months in 80 PWID across 4 SSPs (2 rural, 2 urban).
Feasibility and acceptability will be informed by process indicators (enrollment, uptake, retention) and exit
inter...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11002551
- **Project number:** 1R34DA061621-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** M Kumi Smith
- **Activity code:** R34 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $239,148
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-15 → 2027-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11002551

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11002551, Comprehensive Telehealth at Syringe Service Programs to Engage People Who Inject Drugs into the HIV Care Continuum (1R34DA061621-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11002551. Licensed CC0.

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