The BRIDGES Project: Bridging Resources to Engage Women in Integrated HIV Care and Support Services

Overview

The BRIDGES Project seeks to test a program intended to help women living with HIV who face specific barriers due to culture, gender, violence, trauma, adverse mental health, and substance use to be able to better access HIV care. This program was created and tried with women living with HIV, as previously studies have indicated that women with these experiences are less likely to have stable HIV care. The BRIDGES Project will use Peer Navigators, who are other women living with HIV who have had similar experiences and have been successful in accessing care, to help other women living with HIV to access HIV care and stay in HIV care. The BRIDGES Project will also provide support to women through group sessions co-facilitated by a licensed clinical therapist and Peer Navigator. Through participation in BRIDGES, women will: (1) build skills to cope with HIV care and treatment barriers (e.g., violence, trauma, adverse mental health, substance use); (2) be connected to HIV treatment and other support services (e.g., domestic violence, mental health, substance use); and (3) learn interpersonal skills to connect with support (e.g., service providers, peers, friends, family) when faced with new or ongoing barriers.

The BRIDGES Project intervention is culturally-tailored intervention for syndemic-affected cis- and transgender women living with HIV/AIDS (WLHA) that aims to: 1) build skills to cope with syndemic-related affective distress, 2) facilitate linkages to both HIV treatment and relevant ancillary service providers (e.g., domestic violence, mental health, substance use), and 3) teach women interpersonal skills to activate social support networks (e.g., service providers, friends, family) when faced with new or ongoing barriers. Participants in the The BRIDGES Project are estimated to demonstrate improvements in HIV care outcomes (i.e., linkage to HIV care, self-efficacy in ART adherence, retention in HIV care) and syndemic-support outcomes (i.e., coping skills, activated social support networks, linkage to and receipt of ancillary support services) compared to HIV-infected women assigned to standard of care (self-guided access and use of Ryan White case management).