In response to PAR-13-055 for Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health, we propose to test a novel demand generation strategy, the Stylish Man, to increase uptake of Combined HIV Prevention (CHP) in Rakai, Uganda. CHP includes evidence-based biomedical interventions, including safe male circumcision (SMC), antiretroviral therapy (ART) and prevention of mother to child transmission (p-MTCT), as well as behavioral interventions. CHP may substantially attenuate the HIV epidemic; however, optimal effects require high rates of CHP coverage. With PEPFAR funds, the Rakai Health Sciences Program (RHSP) provides CHP in Rakai District, Uganda. Our ongoing 54 village Rakai Community Cohort Study (RCCS), with community HIV prevalence ranging from 6% to 42%, provides longitudinal data on rates of CHP coverage, including SMC, ART and p-MTCT; risk behaviors; and HIV incidence. We have preliminary evidence that CHP is reducing HIV incidence in Rakai, but coverage remains suboptimal (as elsewhere in Africa), particularly in men, reducing program impact. Our data suggest that CHP supply is not the limiting factor, but that there is a deficit in demand. We conducted extensive qualitative research and identified barriers to CHP uptake, which were most pronounced among men. Based on these data as well as social cognitive theory and the social ecological model, we developed and piloted an innovative male-focused CHP demand generation strategy, the Stylish Man Program (SMP) which is male-friendly without excluding exclude women. The SMP strives to demedicalize CHP by deemphasizing health-focused messages and instead stressing taking charge of your life. The SMP has two distinct but related elements: (1) mass media (MM) via radio and posters; and (2) community-level mobilization via the Stylish Man Event (SMEvent) which includes entertainment and contests with embedded CHP promotion, and immediate access to services. Pilot data are encouraging (ex., a fourfold increase in the number of male circumcision clients coming to RHSP mobile clinics compared to prior service statistics). We propose to conduct a 3 year cluster randomized trial of MM plus SMEvents (intervention arm) compared to MM alone (control), in 25 RCCS communities aggregated into ~12 clusters per arm (50 communities in all). The primary outcome will be intent-to-treat community-level rates of CHP coverage (focus on ART, SMC, p-MTCT) by arm. We will also monitor rates of key behaviors and HIV incidence, and compare them between arms and to rates observed in communities in each arm prior to study initiation. Secondary outcomes will thus be time trends in HIV incidence, key behaviors and CHP coverage in each arm prior to and during the study. We have PEPFAR funding for all the CHP services. The design optimizes efficiency and will rapidly provide data on the effects of innovative demand generation for other CHP programs in Africa.
Conventional health education to promote HIV prevention and treatment services has failed to achieve the coverage needed to abate the HIV epidemic, particularly among men. We propose to test a novel approach to promoting services, the Stylish Man Program, which 'demedicalizes' HIV prevention and care, presenting them as a means of taking charge of one's life, reducing stress and being a stylish Ugandan man. Both radio messages and community mobilization will be tested in a randomized trial; if the approach is effective, it could have a substantial impact on use of proven prevention and care services to control the HIV epidemic.
| Billioux, Veena G; Grabowski, Mary K; Ssekasanvu, Joseph et al. (2018) HIV viral suppression and geospatial patterns of HIV antiretroviral therapy treatment facility use in Rakai, Uganda. AIDS 32:819-824 |
| Seremba, Emmanuel; Ssempijja, Victor; Kalibbala, Sarah et al. (2017) Hepatitis B incidence and prevention with antiretroviral therapy among HIV-positive individuals in Uganda. AIDS 31:781-786 |
| Mafigiri, Richardson; Matovu, Joseph K B; Makumbi, Fredrick Edward et al. (2017) HIV prevalence and uptake of HIV/AIDS services among youths (15-24 Years) in fishing and neighboring communities of Kasensero, Rakai District, South Western Uganda. BMC Public Health 17:251 |
