# Social support to retain adolescents living with HIV in care and improve ART adherence

> **NIH NIH K08** · DUKE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $183,887

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Career Goal: I am committed to a career as a behavioral health scientist, integrating psychological science
with public health. My goal is to develop interventions that improve outcomes among adolescents living with
HIV (ALWH) globally. Career Development: This career development award will enhance my analytical skills
and provide specific training in social network analysis, and intervention development, testing, and evaluation.
In this application, I seek to: 1) gain proficiency in the use of social network analysis to inform intervention
development; 2) gain essential skills to develop an interactive, network-based, social support intervention to
retain ALWH in HIV care and improve ART adherence; 3) obtain the training needed to use preliminary data
gathered from this proposal to support a follow up grant proposal for a larger trial aimed at evaluating the
proposed intervention. Research Project: Compared to other age groups, South African ALWH are least
adherent to medication regimens, resulting in elevated rates of HIV-related morbidity, mortality, medication
resistance, and HIV transmission. To improve the outcomes of ALWH, we must identify innovative and
engaging methods to retain them in HIV care. The overall goal of the proposed study is to advance knowledge
on the role of ALWHs’ social networks in their treatment-related outcomes and develop a network-based,
social support intervention to retain them in HIV care and increase ART adherence. First, I will conduct an
egocentric social network analysis of ALWH to determine how key members of their social networks influence
their retention in HIV care and ART adherence. Next, I will conduct qualitative analysis using data from ALWH
and their network members to identify best practices to facilitate intervention acceptability and feasibility. Then,
I will use participatory methods to adapt two network-based interventions to fit the target population and
increase their retention in HIV care and ART adherence. Lastly, I will conduct a pilot study in Cape Town,
South Africa to evaluate the intervention. Mentorship: I will work with a highly accomplished, multidisciplinary
team of experts who will support me over the course of the proposed project. My mentors are Drs. John
Bartlett (Duke University), Michael Sweat (MUSC Center for Global Health), Linda-Gail Bekker (Desmond Tutu
HIV Centre, University of Cape Town), Michael Relf (Duke University), and Carl Latkin (Johns Hopkins
Bloomberg School of Public Health) and my advisors are Drs. Audrey Pettifor (UNC) and Joseph Tucker
(UNC). Future Directions. This award will also inform future NIH grant applications (R34 and R01) to optimize
and evaluate the intervention in a larger study sample.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9996791
- **Project number:** 5K08MH118965-02
- **Recipient organization:** DUKE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Tiarney D Ritchwood
- **Activity code:** K08 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $183,887
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-16 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9996791

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9996791, Social support to retain adolescents living with HIV in care and improve ART adherence (5K08MH118965-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9996791. Licensed CC0.

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