Social Capital and Engagement in Care Among Young Black Men Who Have Sex With Men Living With HIV
Condition: HIV Infections
MeSH terms: HIV Infections
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The study is a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the social capital intervention versus
      a general health promotion intervention (Health for Life; H4L) among groups of Young black
      men who have sex with men (YBMSM) and to measure the social capital and engagement in care
      with the HIV-positive YBMSM at 3 and 9 months.
    

Detailed description: 
      Young black men who have sex with men (YBMSM) have high rates of HIV infection, and are also
      at risk for falling out of clinical care. Social capital, which refers to the resources in a
      person's social network, has been shown to be beneficial for people living with HIV in other
      places. The study wants to understand and build upon social capital in the YBMSM population
      in Atlanta, with the goal of ultimately improving HIV-related outcomes for these youth.

      To achieve this study is conducted in 3 phases. In Phase I, study will conduct interviews
      with YBMSM and community leaders to get advice about developing a social capital intervention
      that will improve social capital. Phase II is a randomized controlled trial of groups of
      YBMSM implementing the social capital intervention versus groups of YBMSM receiving a general
      health promotion intervention (Health for Life; H4L). This is followed by Phase III which is
      mainly to measure the social capital and engagement in care with the HIV-positive YBMSM at 3
      and 9 month timepoints.

      The study plan to enroll 180 total participants (120 in the randomized controlled trial and
      60 in preliminary interviews) over the four year study period.
    

Intervention name(s): social capital intervention; group-based health promotion intervention
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The social capital intervention will focus on developing skills and group-work that culminate in participant-derived photovoice projects. Each group of YBMSM will be encouraged to complete a 30 day photovoice challenge. The 30 day challenge is based on a prior community action project done as a part of our Centers for AIDS Research (CFAR)-funded research, which was a Photovoice project conducted by Dr. Hussen. Photovoice is a participatory action research methodology in which groups of individuals from a population of interest are given cameras to document events, people and places of significance in their lives.; The control arm will participate in a health education intervention that will be delivered in a group, but without a specific goal of creating group cohesion or social capital. The intervention will be a modified version of "Health for Life" or H4L, which was used as a control arm intervention in a recently completed protocol of the Adolescent Trials Network which was co-chaired by Dr. Harper (University of Michigan).
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: Prospective, Randomized, Controlled
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Supportive Care
Keywords: MSM: Men who have sex with Men; Social Capital