A Community-University Approach to Preventing HIV

University of Michigan

Status: Withdrawn

Conditions: Alcohol Use; Drug Usage; Drug Abuse; HIV/AIDS and Infections; HIV Testing; Adolescent Behavior; Tobacco Use; Mental Health

Treatments: Device: Storytelling 4 Empowerment

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03938077

HUM00151011

Details and patient eligibility

About

Examine the feasibility and acceptability of delivering the S4E intervention to 20 African-American youths between the ages 16-21 in Flint, Michigan. The investigators will examine the preliminary efficacy of the S4E intervention in improving the uptake of HIV self-testing immediately post-intervention.

Full description

HIV is a significant public health concern in the US, and African American youth (defined as the adolescent and young adults 16-21 years of age) are disproportionately affected. Furthermore, HIV risk behaviors, including substance use and sexual risk behaviors are prominent. Despite the disproportionately high rates of HIV infection and risk behaviors in youth, few youth report having ever been tested for HIV and many are not routinely screened for asymptomatic STIs as recommended by the Center for Disease Control. To address these significant public health concerns, a mobile-health (mHealth) intervention, Storytelling 4 Empowerment (S4E) was developed for health clinic settings. S4E has demonstrated high feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy among youth in clinic settings. The proposed research will determine the feasibility and acceptability of delivering S4E via near peers, as well as determine the preliminary efficacy of S4E to improve HIV self-testing immediately post-intervention in a community sample (n=20) of at-risk youth ages 16-21 living in Flint, Michigan by conducting a phase I, one-arm pilot study to examine the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of S4E in improving the uptake of HIV self-testing immediately post-intervention. A University-Community approach was taken to employ principles of Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) to determine the accessibility and acceptability of S4E when delivered by Near Peers.

Sex: All

Ages: 16 to 21 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• 16-21 years of age
• Sexually Active
• African American
• Live in Flint Michigan

Exclusion criteria

• Report of prior psychiatric hospitalization by adolescent
• Visible cognitive impairment due to drug use

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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0 participants in 1 patient group

S4E App intervention

Experimental group

Description:

Youth will receive the S4E intervention via provided iPads. The intervention will last approximately 60. Content includes: (a) storytelling scenarios, (b) drug use and HIV/STI knowledge, (c) interactive activities, (d) increasing self-efficacy to prevent/reduce sexual and drug use risk behaviors and increase HIV self-testing, (e) Near Peer-youth communication, and (f) highlighting prevention principles. The youth will participate in a Near Peer-initiated prevention and risk reduction encounter which includes (a) reinforcement of HIV solutions that youth learned in the S4E app, (b) promotion of HIV self-tests, and (c) linkage to care and prevention services. Youth have the option to take a HIV self-test. We will determine the acceptability of youth disclosing their results to their Near Peer and linkage to resources. The research staff will also conduct in-depth qualitative interviews with both youth and Near Peer participants to assess feasibility and acceptability of S4E.

Treatment:

Device: Storytelling 4 Empowerment