ASAP: Access to Syringes at Pharmacies for the Prevention of Bloodborne Infections Among People Who Inject Drugs

The refinement integrates a motivational enhancement to reduce staff ambivalence about syringe sales to PWID (People who inject drugs), sampling improvements to assure that project pharmacies are likely serving PWID, and refinements to the intervention training content and delivery in three selected Arizona project counties of Mohave, Maricopa and Pima. Our development and refinement of ASAP relies on: 1) interviews with pharmacy staff of 6 pharmacies (2 for each county) that will assess feasibility, acceptance and likely adoption of the initial draft of the ASAP intervention, and 2) interviews and surveys among pharmacy staff of 3 pharmacies (1 from each county). ASAP's adaptations and refinements will be guided by a highly iterative process between investigators and a community advisory board (CAB). Further, the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) will guide feasibility assessment with a focus on selected CFIR elements across the domains of intervention characteristics, outer and inner setting, characteristics of individuals and process. The project will occur in two phases. The Year 1 formative phase and is NOT a clinical trial will involve: 1) in-depth interviews with staff of 6 pharmacies to clarify intervention components, training and feasibility. Findings will inform the Year 2 iterative ASAP development and refinement phase and beta testing (clinical trial) between investigators and the CAB; including extensive feedback from pharmacy staff of 3 pharmacies following an ASAP beta test. Specific Aims are: Aim 1: To conduct the formative research among pharmacy staff required to develop and beta test the ASAP intervention materials (e.g., training manual, manual of operations, evaluation protocols).

Aim 2: To determine the feasibility of the ASAP intervention relative to impact on pharmacy syringe related sales and pharmacy interactions with PWID at time of syringe buy request.