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A Pilot Study to Evaluate a Novel Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Peer Outreach and Navigation Intervention for Women at High Risk for HIV Infection

AIDS and Behavior volume 25, pages 1411–1422 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake remains woefully low among U.S. women at high risk for HIV acquisition. We evaluated a pilot intervention which involved Peers providing brief PrEP education and counseling at mobile syringe exchange sites and at sex worker and syringe exchange drop-in centers followed by navigation to PrEP care. Peers recruited English-proficient, self-identified women (i.e., cisgender and transgender women and persons with other transfeminine identities) over a 3-month period and delivered the intervention to 52 HIV-negative/status unknown participants. Thirty-eight participants (73.1%) reported PrEP interest, 27 (51.9%) accepted the offer of a PrEP appointment, 13 (25.0%) scheduled a PrEP appointment, 3 (5.8%) attended an initial PrEP appointment, and none were prescribed PrEP. We found a gap between PrEP interest and connecting women to PrEP care. Further study is needed to understand this gap, including exploring innovative approaches to delivering PrEP care to women at highest risk for HIV.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Tonia Poteat, PhD, PA-C, MPH, and Hilary Surratt, PhD for insightful discussions during the early stages of this project and to Axcel Barboza for his input into planning and implementation phases of this study. The authors would also like to thank colleagues at NDRI for their assistance with Peer training. This project was supported by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Minority HIV/AIDS Research Initiative Grant (1U01PS005111-01).

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Affiliations

  1. Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, 3300 Kossuth Avenue, Bronx, NY, 10467, USA

    Oni J. Blackstock, Joey Platt, Amarachi R. Anakaraonye, Brianna L. Norton & Chinazo O. Cunningham

  2. Department of Psychology, Hunter College, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA

    Sarit A. Golub

  3. Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research, NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing, New York, NY, USA

    Suzan M. Walters

  4. Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Jae M. Sevelius

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  1. Oni J. Blackstock
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  2. Joey Platt
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Correspondence to Oni J. Blackstock.

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Blackstock, O.J., Platt, J., Golub, S.A. et al. A Pilot Study to Evaluate a Novel Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Peer Outreach and Navigation Intervention for Women at High Risk for HIV Infection. AIDS Behav 25, 1411–1422 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-020-02979-y

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Keywords

  • Women
  • HIV
  • Pre-exposure prophylaxis
  • Syringe exchange programs
  • Sex work