Engaging HIV Patients in Primary Care by Promoting Acceptance (HIV Engage)

Butler Hospital

Status: Completed

Conditions: HIV

Treatments: Behavioral: ABBT; Other: TAU

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02004457

R34MH098694-02

Details and patient eligibility

About

Engagement in primary care for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) is a significant public health concern because reduced commitment to care puts PLWHA at risk for illness progression, death, and transmission of HIV to others. This project will develop a novel treatment, brief acceptance-based behavior therapy (ABBT), to promote self-acceptance of HIV status as a pathway to reducing engagement barriers. The clinical and public health impact of this project will be the development of a simple, low-cost, disseminable intervention that enhances longitudinal commitment to care so PLWHA can obtain effective medical treatments that will prolong survival and improve quality of life. We hypothesize that individuals randomized to brief ABBT will showed increased longitudinal attendance of primary care appointments.

Enrollment: 43 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 60 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• new to the primary care clinic
• HIV+
• between 18 and 60 years old
• entering HIV care for the first time
• able to speak and read English sufficiently to be able to complete the study procedures
• have access to a telephone

Exclusion criteria

• psychiatrically or cognitively impaired

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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43 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Acceptance-based behavior therapy (ABBT)

Experimental group

Description:

ABBT will consist of 2 sessions. The first session will be used to introduce the concept of acceptance and its possible benefits in the context of life values and patient-identified barriers to care engagement. Following a discussion of life values will be a discussion of which, if any, of these values are currently misaligned with the participant's HIV self-care. At the second session, acceptance-based coping skills will be practiced and a behavioral plan will be developed to targets barriers identified in the first session. These discussions will help the participant clarify how best to align their values with decisions on how to manage his/her HIV (e.g. when and how to disclose, what to expect at appointments).

Treatment:

Behavioral: ABBT

Treatment-as-usual (TAU)

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

TAU will consist of the standard sessions all individuals receive as they enter HIV care and attend their first follow-up visit to review lab results. TAU includes identification of environmental barriers to care, assessment of needs for additional care and corresponding referrals (i.e., for depression, substance abuse), and recommendations to attend HIV support groups.

Treatment:

Other: TAU