Providence/Boston Center for AIDS Research (CFAR)

Miriam Hospital, Providence RI

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY Faith, spirituality, and religious practice play important roles in the lives of many African Americans, yet little research explores how African Americans' religious participation, faith, and spirituality may impact racial disparities in HIV infection. Partnering with faith-based organizations (FBOs) is also an important component of the Ending the HIV Epidemic (EtHE) Initiative’s “all of society” approach to ending the epidemic. Mississippi is in the heart of the Bible Belt and is named as a priority state in the EtHE Initiative. There is a public health opportunity to leverage the power of African American faith institutions to reduce racial disparities in the HIV and PrEP care continua, particularly in southern communities in the Bible Belt. There is also opportunity to engage clergy in partnerships with community health centers (CHCs), as CHCs are key EtHE partners for scaling HIV screening, prevention, and treatment in the South. The primary goal of this research program is to evaluate the impact of culturally tailored social marketing campaigns to promote engagement in HIV screening, prevention, and treatment services at a CHC in Jackson, Mississippi. We will implement and compare the impact of two digital social marketing campaigns featuring (1) African American clergy promoting HIV screening, PrEP and HIV care; and (2) sex positive messages that promote HIV screening, PrEP and HIV care. These campaigns will be designed to drive patient traffic to a local CHC in Jackson, Mississippi. We will implement both campaigns on several social media platforms and compare the impact of each campaign and platform for engaging patients in HIV-related clinical services at the clinic. We will measure patient presentation for HIV screening, PrEP, and treatment services and monitor their progression through the PrEP and HIV care continua. This proposed project is guided by an implementation research logic model (IRLM) developed by Smith and Rafferty. This proposed research program builds upon the results of our prior Center for AIDS Research supplement to conduct an ethnographic study of clergy knowledge and beliefs about EtHE and biomedical interventions related to HIV, their interest and intent to partner with local CHCs, and their recommendations for how to leverage FBOs to promote uptake of HIV screening, treatment, and care in partnership with CHCs. This proposed equity-focused approach to reduce HIV-related health disparities responds to the “Diagnose,” “Treat,” and “Protect” pillars in the EtHE Initiative. We expect that these campaigns will help normalize and scale biomedical HIV interventions at CHCs in hotspots in the Deep South by leveraging the voices of African American clergy as well promoting sex positive messages. Our short-term goal is to improve engagement in HIV screening, prevention, and treatment services, with a long-term goal of decreasing HIV incidence and AIDS-related mortality. This research is led by investigators from Brown University and Crossroads Clinic who have a strong track record of collaboration together and with the Mississippi State Department of Health.