SLAM DUNC: Strategies to Link Antidepressant and Antiretroviral Management at Duke University, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Northern Outreach Clinic (Henderson, NC), and University of North Carolina

Our goal in this project is to conduct a randomized controlled trial of an evidence-based depression treatment intervention known as Measurement-Based Care (MBC), combined with brief Motivational Interviewing (MI) adherence counseling, in depressed people living with HIV/AIDS to assess its impact on ART adherence and clinical outcomes. MBC employs Depression Care Managers with expertise in depression management to screen for depression and help non-psychiatric physicians implement guideline-concordant, algorithm-driven antidepressant treatment. The Depression Care Manager use standardized metrics (depressive symptoms, side effects) and an algorithm to monitor treatment response and recommend changes. Weekly supervision from a psychiatrist ensures quality care. Biweekly contact between patients and the Depression Care Manager will include brief MI adherence counseling.

We will recruit 390 people living with HIV/AIDS on antiretroviral therapy (ART) with confirmed depression, and will conduct a randomized trial of the MBC intervention versus enhanced usual care. Our aims are: (1) to test whether MBC improves ART adherence and HIV clinical outcomes, (2) to assess the cost-effectiveness of MBC, and (3) to collect process measures concerning MBC implementation to inform replication at other sites. Since the Depression Care Manager role can be effectively filled by a behavioral health provider or nurse given appropriate training and supervision and the intervention has limited time requirements, this model is potentially replicable to a wide range of resource-constrained HIV treatment settings.