Overview
By combining two strategies (i.e., peer navigation and mHealth) into a complete, culturally compatible, bilingual intervention to increase the use of needed HIV, STI, and HCV prevention and care services among racially/ethnically diverse GBMSM and transgender women in rural Appalachia.
Study Investigators anticipate that participants in the intervention group, relative to counterparts in the delayed-intervention group, will demonstrate increased HIV, STI, and HCV testing.
Description
This CBPR study will advance prevention science and practice through testing an innovative intervention to promote and support the use of needed HIV, STI, and HCV prevention and care services among GBMSM and transgender women; and developing priorities and recommendations to improve their health that will be disseminated to inform public health practice, research, and policy. By integrating peer navigation and mHealth strategies, the proposed study provides a unique opportunity to improve health among vulnerable, hidden, and neglected populations living in rural Appalachia. Findings from this research may inform strategies and approaches to address other health disparities in other rural populations.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria:
- reside in one of the rural Appalachian catchment countiesreside in one of the rural Appalachian catchment counties
- be ≥18 years of age
- report being assigned male sex at birth and having had sex with at least 1 man in past 12 months
- provide informed consent
