Optimizing PrEP Care Delivery Through Adaptive Intervention Strategies for Underserved Rural People Who Inject Drugs

Kentucky's HIV epidemic displays an especially profound and disproportionate impact among people who inject drugs (PWID): 14.8% of males and 54.2% of females newly diagnosed with HIV in 2021 have an injection drug use-related transmission factor, far exceeding the national average for this exposure category. A central pillar of Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) is the prevention of new HIV infections through scale up of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) in key populations, including PWID. For PWID, PrEP uptake remains severely limited, and no evidence-based PrEP interventions specifically targeted for PWID are available. In the previous pilot in KY's Appalachian region, two brief, low-intensity interventions to promote linkage to co-located PrEP care in rural syringe service programs (SSPs) were successfully implemented, including a newly adapted strengths-based case management (SBCM-PrEP) intervention designed to address multi-level barriers to PrEP initiation. The pilot trial has demonstrated proof of concept for integrated PrEP care within rurally-located SSPs and high acceptability among PWID with high uptake of initial clinical interventions. Nevertheless, just 51% returned for test results, and 28% progressed to PrEP prescription, indicating that augmented intervention support is required to optimize PrEP uptake. The stepped-care Adaptive Interventions (AIs) to be tested respond directly to identified challenges in the pilot trial and the need for augmented support among initial non-responders. AIs have shown remarkable promise in diverse behavioral and medical conditions, including areas such as chronic lower back pain, risky drinking and violent behavior, reducing alcohol use, preventing suicidal behavior, and HIV treatment retention