UCSD CFAR HIV Disparities Program
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: Our UCSD CFAR HIV Disparities Program will bring together academic researchers, community-based organizations, the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency and people affected by HIV/AIDS to address disparities related to HIV care and treatment in the San Diego region. We will target our initial efforts on the unmet needs of African Americans (AA; Project 1) and syndemic-affected women (i.e., women facing multiple problems such as substance use, mental health, trauma, intimate partner violence, that interact synergistically to contribute to poorer HIV treatment outcomes; Project 2) in San Diego County. The objective of Project 1 is to improve the HIV disease outcomes of African Americans living with HIV infection in San Diego. The specific aims are to 1) refine and tailor a text messaging intervention to improve ART adherence among HIV-infected African American receiving care at Family Health Centers San Diego (FHCSD) through a combination of in-depth interviews (n=10), focus groups (2 groups of n=8), and pilot testing (n=5); and 2) implement the refined intervention for 48 weeks among 100 African American FHCSD participants with the goal of improving rates of HIV viral suppression. If successful, the intervention could more broadly be implemented among HIV-infected African Americans across California in an effort to improve rates of HIV viral suppression, and consequently reduce HIV transmission rates. The objective of Project 2 is to improve linkage to and retention in care outcomes among out-of-care HIV-infected women who face syndemic-related barriers (e.g., substance use, mental health, trauma, intimate partner violence). In collaboration with Christie�s Place, the only AIDS service agency for women in the county, this will be achieved through an enhanced peer navigation intervention, known as EmPower Women (i.e., using other HIV-infected women who have overcome similar syndemic barriers to provide support via one-on-one sessions, phone/text-based check-ins, and monthly support group sessions). EmPower Women will be culturally tailored to: 1) build skills to cope with syndemic-related affective distress, 2) facilitate linkages with both HIV treatment and relevant ancillary service providers (e.g., domestic violence, mental health, substance use), and 3) teach women interpersonal skills to activate social support networks (e.g., service providers, friends, family) when faced with new or ongoing barriers. The overall goal is that over a 12-month follow-up period, EmPower Women (n=50) will demonstrate improvements in HIV care outcomes (i.e., linkage to care, retention in care) and syndemic-support outcomes (i.e., coping skills, activated social support networks, linkage to and receipt of ancillary support services) compared to HIV-infected women assigned to standard of care (self-guided access and use of Ryan White case management; n=50). If EmPower Women is successful, women who learn to manage their syndemic barriers will be able to later serve as Peer Navigators to other women facing similar barriers and the intervention can be translatable to other HIV-infected populations facing similar syndemic barriers (e.g., young MSM, transgendered) in San Diego County and across California.