HIV Prevention
Proyecto FACIL (Facilitating Access to Care in the Inland Empire and Los Angeles)
In addition to the brick and mortar sites, the state of California provides HIV PrEP delivered through telemedicine (telePrEP) at no cost for those enrolled in their PrEP Assistance Program (PrEP-AP). This is an implementation science study that, in collaboration with the California Department of Public Health, PlushCare, and other health policy stakeholders, proposes to engage community members and organizations to identify barriers and develop an intervention which increases uptake of California’s telePrEP program for HIV prevention.
We seek to explore reasons for why telePrEP is not widely adopted and used among Latinx men who have sex with men (MSM) and transwomen in three counties of Southern California, according to the domains of successful implementation in the integrated framework for Promoting Action on Research Implementation in the Health Sciences (i-PARIHS). We will then use these findings to inform the development and implementation of a strategy to facilitate the successful implementation of telePrEP among community organizations in southern California. The new strategy will be monitored and evaluated using the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework. Learn more about our project : facil.usc.edu
Study title: Implementing HIV PrEP among Latino men who have sex with men and transgender women
Award number: H21IS3593
Funding source: California HIV/AIDS Research Program
HIV Prevention in Pregnant & Breastfeeding Women
This study is discrete choice experiment (DCE) & comprehensive assessment of attitudes to and preferences for longer-acting HIV PrEP modalities and multipurpose prevention technologies among 450 pregnant and breastfeeding women in southern Africa (South Africa & Botswana).
Rationale: In sub- Saharan Africa, the risk of HIV acquisition increases by two-fold during pregnancy and postpartum, yet pregnant and breastfeeding women have been historically excluded from HIV prevention research. In view of adherence challenges with daily oral PrEP, this study takes a formative population-centered approach to potentially inform accelerated uptake of long-acting PrEP and multi-purpose prevention candidates among cis gender women at increased risk of HIV acquisition.
Formal title: Evaluation of pregnant and breastfeeding women’s preferences and attitudes towards long-acting HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis: A discrete choice experiment in South Africa and Botswana.
Funding Body: MERCK Investigator Studies Program
Grant Number: 10063
Heart PrEP
The Health Empowerment and Access through Remote Tele-PrEP (HEART-PrEP) is a collaborative project between USC Keck Medicine’s Department of Population and Public Health Science, Rainbow Pride Youth Alliance (RPYA), ReachLA, and QCare+ funded by the California Department of Public Health, Office of AIDS to expand telePrEP services, education, and peer navigation for the Latinx LGBTQ+ community in the Inland Empire. This region, consisting of San Bernardino and Riverside counties, is a majority Latinx population, with a high rate of HIV and low rates of testing and PrEP use. These disparities are amplified by other social determinants, such as limited access to care and services, low income, language barriers, and limited insurance coverage. HEART-PrEP’s community-informed and community-led approach provides culturally competent and financially equitable support to any gaps that exist in PrEP/PEP uptake and adherence.
