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J-RISE: Relevant Implementation Strategies to Eliminate the Social and Structural Barriers to HIV Services Among Justice-involved Black Men Who Have Sex With Men and Other Key Populations

Not Applicable
Recruiting
Conditions
HIV
Justice Involved Populations
Contingency Management
Status Neutral Interventions
Interventions
Behavioral: Health Navigation, Employment Navigation plus Contingency Management Intervention
Behavioral: Health Navigation
Registration Number
NCT06477588
Lead Sponsor
University of Chicago
Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare two interventions - Health Navigation and Health Navigation Plus among individuals who have been impacted by the criminal legal system.

The main question it aims to answer is:

• Compared with the Health Navigation group, are participants in the Health Navigation Plus group more likely to a) access HIV care, treatment, and prevention services and employment services and b) access employment services and be employed in community?

Participants on the study will be:

* Randomly assigned (like a flip of a coin) to participate in either Health Navigation or Health Navigation Plus. Participants will have an equal chance of being placed in either group.

* Complete three surveys over the course of 13 months

* Participants in the Health Navigation group will have two in person meetings and seven check-ins with the health navigator over 6 months

* Participants in the Health Navigation Plus group will have two in person meetings and seven check-ins with the health navigator over 6 months, two in person and 10 check ins with the employment navigator over 12 months and up to $200 to support employment and career development needs and receive up to $140 to support health goals. Samples of blood, urine and swabs may be collected to meet the health goals.

Detailed Description

The overarching goals of J-RISE is to evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of two packaged status neutral interventions to improve access to HIV and employment-related services and employment among criminal legal involved Black men who have sex with men (BMSM). Criminal legal involved BMSM are particularly vulnerable to HIV, and oftentimes experience delayed uptake and benefit from available HIV services. Status neutral interventions for criminal legal involved BMSM hold significant promise in supporting Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) plans including enhancing access to HIV, mental health, and substance use services post-release; expanding the skills of the HIV workforce; and addressing the social and structural barriers to HIV services (e.g., unemployment) experienced by this population. The underlying tenet of status neutral interventions is a holistic or whole person approach to service delivery that meets the needs of clients regardless of their HIV status. There is a dearth of implementation science research in this domain, generally, and specifically for criminal legal involved BMSM. In September 2023, in addition to BMSM, community partners have prioritized Black transgender/gender non-conforming individuals and Black cisgender women who have sex with men as key populations for inclusion in J-RISE. Thus, J-RISE will be expanded to include these populations. The following status neutral evidenced-informed/promising interventions will be implemented to improve HIV, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and employment-related outcomes: (1) Health Navigation (HN) - leading with status neutral health navigator, a foundational intervention, to enhance access to HIV, mental health, substance use, and other supportive services; followed by (2) Employment navigation (EN) -status neutral employment navigators dedicated to supporting client employment, training, and career development needs; and coupled with (3) Contingency Management Intervention (CMI) - the provision of financial incentives for the uptake and achievement of specific HIV care and prevention milestones. Bringing these interventions together will maximize their independent effectiveness and provide significant promise for addressing the social and structural barriers to HIV services for key populations that are highly impacted by HIV. J-RISE will be guided by robust implementation science and equity frameworks (i.e., CFIR: Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, RE-AIM: Reach Effectiveness Adoption Implementation Maintenance, and MIPA: Meaningful Involvement of People Living with and Impacted by HIV) and tools (e.g., implementation outcomes crosswalk and implementation research logic model). The implementation evaluation will study seven proposed implementation strategies: (1) Building a cross-site learning collaborative; (2) conducting readiness assessments; (3) providing cross-site training for the status-neutral interventions; (4) facilitating ongoing calls with interventionists; (5) monitoring financial incentives; (6) conducting audit and feedback to support implementation; and (7) engaging clients and consumers in the intervention.

Study Aim:

Aim 1. Evaluate the effectiveness of two packaged status neutral interventions (Health Navigation versus Health Navigation + Employment Navigation + Contingency Management Intervention) on primary outcomes (i.e., linkages to HIV, PrEP, and employment-related services within 90 days) and secondary outcomes (i.e., receipt of HIV/STI testing, receipt of mental health and substance use services, retention in HIV and PrEP care, viral suppression, employment within 180 days and sustained employment) among enrolled participants. The investigators will conduct a pragmatic 2-arm randomized control trial (RCT) with N=350 enrolled participants randomized 1:1.

Aim 2. Explore the deployment of seven prioritized implementation strategies to enhance the adoption, implementation, and sustainment of the packaged status neutral interventions as it relates to nine key implementation outcomes (i.e., reach, acceptability, feasibility, adoption, fidelity, penetration, effectiveness, cost, engagement, and sustainability). The investigators will utilize a mixed method approach to complete this aim.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
350
Inclusion Criteria
  1. be at least 18 years of age;
  2. currently reside or intend to reside in one of the study communities (i.e., Cook County, Baton Rouge, and the New Orleans area);
  3. be able to provide informed consent in English and complete the study in English. In addition, potential participants must:
  4. be currently incarcerated in jail or prison and report an expected release within 90 days, or under community supervision or drug court, or report a recent incarceration within the last three years, or in the last 12 months has had an interaction with law enforcement that did not lead to an arrest or jail or prison time, AND has not already been linked and/or retained in HIV or PrEP care in the community;
  5. report needing employment-related services; and
  6. have a confirmed HIV positive or negative status (within 90 days of enrollment) and if HIV negative meets one of CDC's PrEP indications (i.e., sexually active, needle sharing, previous STI history in the last 24 months) or plans to have sex in the next 12 months or wants more information about PrEP. Exclusion criteria include unwilling/unable to provide informed consent does not live or intend to live in one of the study locations, unable to confirm HIV status, unable to conduct the study in English, and currently enrolled in another intervention to support HIV care, PrEP care, and economic stability.
Exclusion Criteria
  1. unwilling/unable to provide informed consent,
  2. does not live or intend to live in one of the study locations,
  3. unable to confirm HIV status,
  4. unable to conduct the study in English, and
  5. currently enrolled in another intervention to support HIV care, PrEP care, and economic stability.

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Health Navigation, Employment Navigation plus Contingency Management InterventionHealth Navigation, Employment Navigation plus Contingency Management InterventionReferrals to HIV, mental health, substance use, and other supportive services Referrals for employment including training, and career development needs; Provision of financial incentives for the uptake and achievement of specific HIV care and prevention milestones.
Health NavigationHealth NavigationReferrals to HIV, mental health, substance use, and other supportive services
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Linkage to employment-related services in communityBaseline through 90 days in community

Number of referred participants who receive employment-related service in the community based on referral reports completed by the interventionists

Linkage to HIV careBaseline through 90 days in community

Number of participants who visit a provider for HIV care and receive a prescription based on medical reports

Linkage to PrEP careBaseline through 90 days in community

Number of participants who visit a provider for PrEP care ranging from PrEP information only to the receipt of a prescription based on medical reports

EmploymentBaseline through 180 days in community

Number of employment seeking participants who self-report on surveys becoming employed

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Retention in HIV care12 months

Number of participants who attend two HIV care visits at least 90 days apart based on medical reports

Sustained employment12 months

Number of participants who self-report in surveys maintaining employment for at least 3 months within a 12-month period

HIV viral suppressionBaseline through 12 months

Number of participants with an HIV viral load \< 200 copies/ml based on medical reports

Retention in PrEP care12 months

Number of participants with at least two PrEP care visits in a 12-month period based on medical reports

Receipt of mental health servicesBaseline through 180 days in community

Number of participants with a mental health service visit within 180 days based on referrals reported complete by interventionists.

Receipt of substance use servicesBaseline through 180 days in community

Number of participants with a substance use visit within 180 days based on referrals reported complete by interventionists.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Chicago

🇺🇸

Chicago, Illinois, United States

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