Implementing PrEP for Women Who Inject Drugs

Women who inject drugs are among the most vulnerable to acquiring HIV, but very few women who inject drugs are prescribed pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV prevention largely due to barriers within our healthcare system. This research will consider the perspectives of women who inject drugs, healthcare providers, and clinic leadership to improve the way primary care and reproductive health clinics deliver PrEP to women who inject drugs, thereby reducing new HIV infections in this population.

Women who inject drugs (WWID) are among the most vulnerable to acquiring HIV due to the dual effects of both unsafe injecting and sexual practices. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is both effective and recommended to prevent HIV infection among high-risk groups, including women who inject drugs. However, PrEP uptake among WWID is lagging - 92% of people who receive PrEP in New York State are men. This research will consider the perspectives of women who inject drugs, healthcare providers, and clinic leadership to improve the way primary care and reproductive health clinics deliver PrEP to women who inject drugs to prevent women who inject drugs from getting HIV. The investigators plan to support primary care and reproductive health clinics in making organization-level changes to deliver PrEP to women who use drugs with a Practice Facilitation intervention. Practice Facilitation is an evidence-based strategy to support clinics' abilities to implement an intervention such as PrEP through technical assistance, logistical support, and external partnership building. The specific aims of this study are to 1) explore the opinions of women who inject drugs about how PrEP is delivered to them, 2) examine the provider- and organization-level barriers and facilitators to delivering PrEP to WWID, and 3) adapt and pilot test the feasibility and acceptability of Practice Facilitation to improve PrEP delivery to women who inject drugs in primary and reproductive healthcare settings. The objectives of the pilot study are: a) to adapt an evidence-based Practice Facilitation intervention based on WWID's opinions and provider and organization-level challenges reported in Aims 1 \& 2; b) to assess potential barriers and facilitators to implementing Practice Facilitation for PrEP delivery, including cost of the intervention; and c) to assess in a pilot study change in uptake of PrEP among WWID following the delivery of Practice Facilitation. The outcomes for this pilot test are feasibility, defined as the extent to which Practice Facilitation of PrEP delivery for WWID can be successfully carried out in primary care and reproductive health clinics, and acceptability, defined as the perception among clinic leaders and providers that Practice Facilitation to improve PrEP delivery among WWID is agreeable or satisfactory. The investigators will also assess the change in PrEP uptake among WWID over the study period and the cost of implementing Practice Facilitation. This pilot will take place over 12 months. Pre-intervention baseline measures will include surveys with clinic leaders and providers on organizational capacity, organizational readiness to change, provider knowledge, experience, and willingness to prescribe PrEP and attitudes about WWID. The number of WWID who receive a PrEP prescription in the past 6 months will be extracted retrospectively from clinic electronic health records and/or clinic quality improvement data at baseline. During the 6-month interventio Покажи пълното описание...

Inclusion Criteria: To be included in the pilot test of Practice Facilitation, clinics must: * Complete prior leadership and provider surveys * Have 50 or more clinic visits with women who inject drugs in the past year * Have 3 or more clinicians who provide primary and/or reproductive healthcare * Have leadership willing to participate Exclusion Criteria: * None