Addressing Violence and HIV Care Among Transgender Women

University of Michigan

Status: Completed

Conditions: HIV Infections; Acceptability of Health Care

Treatments: Behavioral: Kickin it with the Gulz

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT04813484

R21MH121974 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

F056257

Details and patient eligibility

About

This project seeks to adapt and pilot a trauma-informed combination intervention named 'Kickin' it with the Gurlz' that was designed with, for, and by transgender women of color to improve HIV care continuum outcomes. The intervention components include a violence and gender affirmation screening tool, a peer-led adaptation of Seeking Safety, and individual-level peer navigation sessions. The project will examine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary promise of the multicomponent by conducting a one-arm pilot with 30 transgender women of color who have a history of trauma. Participants will complete baseline, immediate post-intervention, and 3-month follow up assessments.

Full description

This project seeks to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the trauma-informed combination care intervention to improve HIV care continuum outcomes including the development of community-informed strategies for subsequent RCTs. We will conduct a one-arm pilot of the adapted multicomponent trauma-informed intervention named "Kickin it with the Gurlz." This project will collect feasibility and acceptability data related to identifying, recruiting, enrolling, intervening with, and retaining participants (i.e. recruitment length, screening procedures, feasibility of conducting sessions, intervention acceptability, retention rates, feasibility of verifying self-reported and medical chart review data on viral load and exit interviews with participants and staff at program conclusion). The study will recruit 30 participants into the pilot study. Participants will complete baseline, end of program, and 3-month post-intervention follow-up surveys. Exit interviews and interviews with key stakeholders will identify strategies for implementing trauma-informed HIV treatment efficacy trials with transgender women of color within close-knit communities, such as acceptable and feasible control conditions, acceptable and feasible violence and gender affirmation screening, biomedical confirmation methods, contamination concerns, and potential changes needed within existing health care systems.

Enrollment: 11 patients

Sex: Male

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• At least 18 years old
• Assigned male at birth; identifies as female, transgender woman, or another feminine gender identity
• Self-identifies as a person of color (any racial/ethnic identity except non-Hispanic white)
• Self-reports as HIV-positive
• History of trauma (i.e., endorses at least 2 items on the adapted Trauma History Screener which includes IPV and experiencing or witnessing other forms of violence for transgender women
• Living or willing to travel to Detroit
• English-speaking
• Willing and able to provide informed consent.

Exclusion criteria

• Evidence of severe cognitive impairment or active psychosis that may impede ability to provide fully informed consent

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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11 participants in 1 patient group

Kicking it with the Gurlz

Experimental group

Description:

This multicomponent intervention includes a violence and gender affirmation screening tool, a peer delivered adaptation of the group-level Seeking Safety Program, and individual-level peer navigation sessions.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Kickin it with the Gulz