HIV/STI/HCV Testing and Overdose Prevention Among Survivors of Sex Trafficking

Overview

This project will assess whether a digital survivor crowdsourced intervention can increase HIV/STI/HCV testing and overdose prevention kit utilization among survivors of sex trafficking living in New York City. Survivors of sex trafficking have among the highest rates of HIV/STIs/HCV and substance use disorder (SUD), yet they face substantial barriers to care, including lack of information about care and financial and logistical constraints. In addition, there is a lack of public health messaging tailored specifically for survivors of sex trafficking to meet their needs. Citizen science approaches, such as crowdsourcing (i.e., engaging groups of individuals to address public health challenges and share solutions), are scalable, cost-effective tools that can increase HIV/SUD prevention and treatment utilization. Crowdsourcing can be used to engage survivors in developing tailored messaging to promote HIV/STI/HCV testing, overdose prevention, and treatment utilization. Complementing crowdsourcing, specimen self-collection with remote HIV/STI/HCV testing and online delivery of overdose prevention kits to survivors may also increase use of needed healthcare services. Study aims are: 1) develop crowdsourced digital messages to promote HIV/STI/HCV testing uptake and utilization of overdose prevention services for substance use among sex trafficking survivors; 2) in a randomized controlled trial, to compare the survivor-crowdsourced HIV and substance use intervention to existing public health messaging among sex trafficking survivors (n=368) in New York City; and 3) assess the contribution of multi-level factors on reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance (RE-AIM) outcomes. This work will result in a digital crowdsourced intervention to increase HIV/STI/HCV testing uptake, overdose prevention kit utilization, and linkage to care among survivors of sex trafficking. This project will also result in a crowdsourcing and messaging toolkit that can be broadly distributed to public health and other agencies across the country for their use in designing messaging campaigns for survivors. Findings from this project will lay the groundwork for citizen science-developed HIV and SUD interventions for sex trafficking survivors across the US.

The investigators propose to develop and assess whether a digital survivor-crowdsourced (i.e., engaging individuals to address public health challenges and share solutions) intervention can increase testing for HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and hepatitis C virus (HCV) and the utilization of life-saving overdose prevention practices and services among survivors of sex trafficking (ST) in New York City (NYC). ST survivors have higher risk substance use (e.g., injection drug use, fentanyl) than women who are not trafficked -- \>84% have used substances, with \~33% experiencing forced substance use, and \~70% a drug overdose. ST survivors have higher HIV/STI prevalence rates (up to 70%) than even non-trafficked women in sex work. Nearly 50% of survivors have branding tattoos, increasing their risk for HCV. Despite their elevated rates of HIV/STIs/HCV and substance use disorder (SUD), there is a lack of public health messaging tailored specifically for ST survivors, and much of the existing messaging is denigrating toward this population. Survivors also face substantial barriers to care, including lack of information about care access and logistical constraints. In the absence of innovative interventions tailored for this population, health problems among ST survivors will persist. The Study's Specific Aims are: Aim 1: Develop crowdsourced digital messages to promote HIV/STI/HCV testing uptake and utilization of overdose prevention services for substance use among female ST survivors. To achieve this aim, in partnership with our Citizen Collaborative Research Board (CCRB), the investigators will use in-depth interviews and conduct a series of designathons, launched via a national crowdsourcing open call, in which survivors ideate, prototype and present multimedia content to promote HIV/STI/HCV testing uptake and utilization of overdose prevention services among peers. Aim 2: In a randomized controlled trial, to compare the survivor-crowdsourced HIV and substance use intervention to existing public health messaging among ST survivors (n=368) in New York City. Hypothesis: The crowdsourced intervention will increase HIV/STI/HCV testing uptake and utilization of overdose prevention services among survivors compared to control content. The primary outcome will be online HIV/STI/HCV tests completed and online ordering of overdose prevention kits. Secondary outcomes will be linkage to HIV/STI/HCV care, PrEP, and substance use disorder (SUD) services. Aim 3: Assess the contribution of multi-level factors on reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance (RE-AIM) outcomes. The investigators will use the PRISM framework and a mixed methods approach to assess RE-AIM outcomes via qualitative interviews, surveys, and HIV/STI/HCV testing and overdose prevention kit referral vouchers. Hypothesis: HIV/STI/HCV testing and overdose prevention kit referral and uptake will be significantly greater among the crowdsourced intervention arm than among the control arm.