Cluster Randomized controlled trial of Using PrEP, Doing it for Ourselves [UPDOs] Protective Styles: A salon-based intervention to improve PrEP uptake among Black cis-gender women."

NIH RePORTER · NIH · R01 · $803,221 · view on reporter.nih.gov ↗

Abstract

HIV disproportionately affects Black cisgender women living in the United States south threatening progress toward the Ending the HIV Endemic initiative's 2030 goals. Although Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), an oral or injectable medication that if taken is highly effective in preventing HIV, Black cisgender women have not equitably benefited from its use due to multiple complex factors. For example, lack of awareness and knowledge to PrEP, not trusting PrEP, PrEP stigma, providers not knowing about or offering PrEP, accessibility, and cost. These factors all contribute to only 2% of eligible women taking PrEP. Thus, interventions that take into consideration the lived experiences and broad culture for Black cisgender women are urgently needed to take a woman from medication precontemplation to uptake to maintenance. In partnership with Black cisgender women, an established community advisory council (CAC), an online telehealth platform (Q Care Plus), and beauty salon stylists, the research team co-developed Using PrEP, Doing it for Ourselves (UPDOs) Protective Styles, an e-Health intervention that strongly considers the unique needs of Black cisgender women, consisting of a training for stylists to become opinion leaders (trusted gatekeepers who share health information in the community) in HIV prevention (i.e., PrEP) and a 6-week web- based, edutainment video series (i.e., six 20-minute episodes), structured debrief blogs, and telehealth service access. The CAC was invaluable in this development process having collaborated with the research team across sexual health-based projects that informed and contributed to UPDOs preliminary research. UPDOs web content share core concepts by telling the stories of women from various backgrounds and role-plays a woman's decision-making process to use PrEP. Pilot research found UPDOs acceptable, improved PrEP trust, increased knowledge – for both PrEP aware and unaware participants, and decreased perceptions of PrEP stigma within personal relationships. This proposed effectiveness-implementation type I hybrid study will test UPDOs effectiveness in a larger, more geographically diverse sample using a cluster-randomized control trial and examine implementation determinants of UPDOs. In collaboration with Q Care Plus, a secure online platform to access telehealth services for home delivered HIV testing and PrEP prescriptions, we will track how many women reach out to a provider, get HIV testing, start PrEP, and maintain PrEP as prescribed. A cohort of 32 beauty salons will be randomized to either an intervention group (n=16) or control group (n=16). Salons (1 salon = 1 cluster) will be randomized to UPDOs (Edutainment videos + blogs + Q Care Plus) or usual care (CDC videos + website) conditions. Once salons are randomized, the recruitment and enrollment period of female customers will occur over 24-months. Study participation will include data collection at baseline with follow-up measures at 1, 12, 24, 32, a...

Key facts

NIH application ID
11006929
Project number
1R01NR021692-01A1
Recipient
DUKE UNIVERSITY
Principal Investigator
Schenita D. Randolph
Activity code
R01
Funding institute
NIH
Fiscal year
2024
Award amount
$803,221
Award type
1
Project period
2024-08-09 → 2025-05-31