An employment intervention program (Work2Prevent) for young men who have sex with men and transgender youth of color (phase 2): Protocol for a single-arm mixed methods pilot test to assess feasibility and acceptability

Brandon J. Hill*, Darnell N. Motley, Kris Rosentel, Alicia VandeVusse, Robert Garofalo, John A. Schneider, Lisa M. Kuhns, Michele D. Kipke, Sari Reisner, Betty M. Rupp, Maria Sanchez, Micah McCumber, Laura Renshaw, Rachel West Goolsby, Matthew Shane Loop

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Young cisgender men who have sex with men (YMSM), young transgender women (YTW), and gender nonconforming (GNC) youth of color face substantial economic and health disparities. In particular, HIV risk and infection among these groups remains a significant public health issue. In 2017, 17% of all new HIV diagnoses were attributed to male-to-male sexual contact among adolescents and young adults aged 13 to 24 years. However, such disparities cannot be attributed to individual-level factors alone but rather are situated within larger social and structural contexts that marginalize and predispose YMSM, YTW, and GNC youth of color to increased HIV exposure. Addressing social and structural risk factors requires intervention on distal drivers of HIV risk, including employment and economic stability. The Work2Prevent (W2P) study aims to target economic stability through job readiness and employment as a structural-level intervention for preventing adolescent and young adult HIV among black and Latinx YMSM, YTW, and GNC youth. This study seeks to assess intervention feasibility and acceptability in the target populations and determine preliminary efficacy of the intervention to increase employment and reduce sexual risk behaviors. Objective: The goal of the research is to pilot-test a tailored, theoretically informed employment intervention program among YMSM, YTW, and GNC youth of color. This intervention was adapted from Increased Individual Income and Independence, an existing evidence-based employment program for HIV-positive adults during phase 1 of the W2P study. Methods: The employment intervention will be pilot-tested among vulnerable YMSM, YTW, and GNC youth of color in a single-arm pre-post trial to assess feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary estimates of efficacy. Results: Research activities began in March 2018 and were completed in November 2019. Overall, 5 participants were enrolled in the pretest and 51 participants were enrolled in the pilot. Conclusions: Interventions that address the social and structural drivers of HIV exposure and infection are sorely needed in order to successfully bend the curve in the adolescent and young adult HIV epidemic. Employment as prevention has the potential to be a scalable intervention that can be deployed among this group.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numbere16401
JournalJMIR Research Protocols
Volume9
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2020

Funding

This study is supported by the ATN from the National Institutes of Health (5U24HD089880-02) through the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (B Kapogiannis and S Lee), National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institute of Mental Health, and National Institute on Drug Abuse. Network operations and data management are supported through the ATN Coordinating Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The content in this manuscript is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Keywords

  • GNC youth
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Homelessness
  • LGBTQ
  • Sex work
  • Unemployment
  • YMSM
  • YTW

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

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