Clinical Research Directory

Mobilizing Social Network Resources for HIV Care Support

Sponsor: Medical College of Wisconsin

Summary

The intervention study will recruit 100 out-of-care HIV+ men who have sex with men in online and in community settings located throughout St. Petersburg, Russia. After completing baseline assessments, participants will be randomized to either an individual care counseling (ICC) comparison condition or ICC plus a social support mobilization (SSM) intervention. In each intervention, participants will attend five main and two booster sessions that underscore the benefits of medical care engagement, counter the effects of internalized intersectional stigma and promote resilience, and help participants develop and mobilize social resources supportive of HIV care. Support mobilization will begin by assisting participants develop care-supportive bonds with other group members, friends who are also living with HIV, and connections made with LGBT and other non-governmental organizations. They will also be guided in developing and expanding supportive links with affirmative friends, family members, and other resources. In this way, the intervention will bolster care-related social support resources, resilience, and feelings of self-worth. Assessments administered at baseline will be repeated 6 and 12 months post-intervention, and in-depth followup interviews will be conducted with a subset of 20 participants to elicit feedback about the intervention experience. The study will investigate whether the SSM intervention will produce greater preliminary evidence of benefit on the primary outcome of medical care attendance in the past 6 months and on secondary outcomes of having undetectable viral load, ART adherence, and psychosocial well-being.

Official title: Mobilizing Social Network Resources for HIV Care Support: Development and Testing of an Intervention for HIV+ MSM in St. Petersburg, Russia

Key Details

Conditions

Interventions

Locations (1)