Safe Spaces 4 Sexual Health
Purpose
In an earlier study, the study team carried out an HIV/Sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing approach which found men who have sex with men (MSM) at-risk of getting or spreading HIV in online spaces and linked them to testing services on a mobile van. The goal of this present study is to add on to this approach by connecting participants (MSM aged 18-49 residing in the Baltimore area) with a peer health navigator to support them with getting pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) or HIV care services after testing. Researchers will compare using a peer health navigator approach to using a referrals-only approach to get PrEP or HIV care services. Participants will be assigned to either Arm A (group that receives peer health navigator help) or Arm B (group that gets referred) to get PrEP or HIV care.
Conditions
- HIV Counseling and Testing
- HIV Risk Behavior
- HIV Prevention
Eligibility
- Eligible Ages
- Between 18 Years and 49 Years
- Eligible Sex
- Male
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- Male - 18-49 years of age - Ability to read and speak English - Baltimore area resident - Report sex with a male in the past 12 months
Exclusion Criteria
- not male-self identified individual
Study Design
- Phase
- N/A
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Intervention Model
- Parallel Assignment
- Primary Purpose
- Health Services Research
- Masking
- None (Open Label)
Arm Groups
| Arm | Description | Assigned Intervention |
|---|---|---|
|
Experimental Intervention group receiving peer health navigation follow-up |
Participants randomly assigned to Arm A will receive a navigation/care linkage needs assessment followed by peer navigation once weekly after discussing their test results with the navigator to support their linkage to PrEP or HIV care over a six-week period. Navigators will complete the following care linkage steps: 1) assess interest in linkage, 2) identify preferred clinic for care linkage, and 3) assist with scheduling initial PrEP/HIV provider appointment. Additionally, the investigators will use the qualitative data collected from in-depth interviews (IRB00375934) of Black MSM and key informant interviews of care linkage stakeholders on barriers and facilitators to HIV prevention and care linkage strategies to inform the peer navigation that Arm A receives. |
|
|
No Intervention Control group receiving standard of care referral |
Participants randomly assigned to Arm B will go through the standard of care referral process to a local community site providing PrEP or HIV care after discussing their test results with a navigator. During this discussion with a navigator, participants will receive information about the PrEP/HIV care sites where the participants can go for services. Six weeks following this initial follow-up, participants will meet virtually with the navigator to complete a PrEP/care linkage status assessment to determine if the participants attended the initial PrEP/HIV provider appointment. |
|
Recruiting Locations
Baltimore 4347778, Maryland 4361885 21287
More Details
- Status
- Recruiting
- Sponsor
- Johns Hopkins University
Detailed Description
In the SS4SH pilot study, utilizing a data-driven approach in partnership with the local health department, the investigators analyzed local public health surveillance data to identify online sex partner meeting spaces frequently reported by (majority Black) MSM newly diagnosed with HIV and/or syphilis. The identified online spaces were used to advertise mobile van HIV/STI testing for MSM > 18 years of age and less than 49 years of age over a 14-month period. The strategy and advertisements were informed by a community advisory board (CAB) of MSM hosted at a local Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) community-based organization to ensure local relevance, acceptability and feasibility.