PrEP Intervention in Prince George's County, Maryland

NCT06141408 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: GeorgeMU
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 120
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of the proposed research is to design a peer-based community intervention focused on addressing HIV stigma, and peer support to increase PrEP initiation in Prince George's County, MD. Participants will attend intervention events focused on stigma reduction and building community. Researchers will compare intervention and control group participants to see if there in a difference in PrEP initiation and adherence.

Conditions

Hiv; Mental Health Issue; Support, Family

Keywords

HIV; Stigma; Support; PrEP

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Number of participants with a PreP prescription within one month of intervention completion.

  This is the number of participants who receive an initial prescription for Pre-exposure prophylaxis. Investigators will refer individuals participating in the intervention for PrEP use. Those who provide either a PrEP prescription, or a PrEP bottle with their prescription information, will be considered as initiating PrEP use.

  Within 1 month of intervention completion.

• Number of participants with a positive blood spot test for PrEP 6 months following the intervention.

  6 months following the intervention completion, investigators will mail a blood spot collection kit to participants, with return postage. When mailed back, investigators will test the dried blood spots for the presence of PrEP using a chemistry analyzer. Those who test positive will be considered as "PrEP adherent".

  6 months post-intervention.

Study Arms (2)

MPowerment PrEP Promotion Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

This is the arm engaging in the stigma-reduction and support-increasing activities aimed to increase PrEP use.

Behavioral: MPowerment PrEP Promotion Intervention

Standard of Care

NO INTERVENTION

This is the arm not engaging in the stigma-reduction and support-increasing activities. This arm will receive standard referreals to PrEP knowledge resources and providers.

Interventions

MPowerment PrEP Promotion Intervention BEHAVIORAL

In-person events will focus on five specific goals: Fostering a sense of community acceptance and social connection, promoting self-acceptance of sexual identity, teaching skills for navigating healthcare, reducing PrEP stigma, and providing education on HIV risk. In accordance with the MPowerment model, In collaboration with the PI, the core group and volunteers would lead the development, implementation, and evaluation of all intervention events. Both peer leaders and the primary investigator will collaborate to develop specific events ("M-Groups"), guided by the findings in both the quantitative and qualitative studies. M-Groups will be held once every month. Events will be 2 hour activities focused on the aforementioned goals.

MPowerment PrEP Promotion Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: male
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Male
• Black
• HIV-negative
• years of age or older
• Either residing in Prince George's County Maryland, or having a sexual partner in Prince George's County Maryland within the past year.

You may not qualify if:

• HIV Positive
• Refusal of HIV testing

Sponsors & Collaborators

• George Mason University: lead

Study Sites (1)

George Mason University

Fairfax, Virginia, 22030, United States

RECRUITING

Related Publications (10)

• Sullivan PS, Mena L, Elopre L, Siegler AJ. Implementation Strategies to Increase PrEP Uptake in the South. Curr HIV/AIDS Rep. 2019 Aug;16(4):259-269. doi: 10.1007/s11904-019-00447-4.

  PMID: 31177363 BACKGROUND

• Sun Z, Gu Q, Dai Y, Zou H, Agins B, Chen Q, Li P, Shen J, Yang Y, Jiang H. Increasing awareness of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and willingness to use HIV PrEP among men who have sex with men: a systematic review and meta-analysis of global data. J Int AIDS Soc. 2022 Mar;25(3):e25883. doi: 10.1002/jia2.25883.

  PMID: 35255193 BACKGROUND

• Hillis A, Germain J, Hope V, McVeigh J, Van Hout MC. Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV Prevention Among Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM): A Scoping Review on PrEP Service Delivery and Programming. AIDS Behav. 2020 Nov;24(11):3056-3070. doi: 10.1007/s10461-020-02855-9.

  PMID: 32274670 BACKGROUND

• Golub SA. PrEP Stigma: Implicit and Explicit Drivers of Disparity. Curr HIV/AIDS Rep. 2018 Apr;15(2):190-197. doi: 10.1007/s11904-018-0385-0.

  PMID: 29460223 BACKGROUND

• Calabrese SK. Understanding, Contextualizing, and Addressing PrEP Stigma to Enhance PrEP Implementation. Curr HIV/AIDS Rep. 2020 Dec;17(6):579-588. doi: 10.1007/s11904-020-00533-y. Epub 2020 Sep 23.

  PMID: 32965576 BACKGROUND

• Johnson J, Radix A, Copeland R, Chacon G. Building Racial and Gender Equity into a National PrEP Access Program. J Law Med Ethics. 2022;50(S1):55-59. doi: 10.1017/jme.2022.37.

  PMID: 35902091 BACKGROUND

• Touger R, Wood BR. A Review of Telehealth Innovations for HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). Curr HIV/AIDS Rep. 2019 Feb;16(1):113-119. doi: 10.1007/s11904-019-00430-z.

  PMID: 30701404 BACKGROUND

• Dangerfield DT 2nd, Lipson A, Anderson JN. HIV PrEP Clinician Communication Preferences Among Black Sexual Minority Men. AIDS Educ Prev. 2022 Apr;34(2):168-181. doi: 10.1521/aeap.2022.34.2.168.

  PMID: 35438541 BACKGROUND

• Bavinton BR, Grulich AE. HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis: scaling up for impact now and in the future. Lancet Public Health. 2021 Jul;6(7):e528-e533. doi: 10.1016/S2468-2667(21)00112-2. Epub 2021 Jun 2.

  PMID: 34087117 BACKGROUND

• Sullivan PS, Siegler AJ. Getting pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to the people: opportunities, challenges and emerging models of PrEP implementation. Sex Health. 2018 Nov;15(6):522-527. doi: 10.1071/SH18103.

  PMID: 30476461 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; Social Stigma

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

HIV Infections; Blood-Borne Infections; Communicable Diseases; Infections; Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Lentivirus Infections; Retroviridae Infections; RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Slow Virus Diseases; Genital Diseases; Urogenital Diseases; Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes; Immune System Diseases; Social Behavior; Behavior

Study Officials

• Rodman Turpin, PhD

  George Mason University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Rodman Turpin, PhD

CONTACT

2024651249; rturpin@gmu.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 10, 2023
• First Posted: November 21, 2023
• Study Start: March 31, 2022
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2026
• Last Updated: October 1, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)