Youth experiencing homelessness (YEH) are at high risk for HIV, with prevalence estimates as high as 13%,
underscoring the need for targeted HIV prevention programs. YEH engage in more sexual risk behaviors than
stably housed youth, yet underutilize existing HIV prevention programs and prevention care delivery, including
low uptake of PrEP and nPEP. Nurse case management (NCM) enhanced with motivational interviewing (MI)
strategies and behavioral feedback may increase engagement of youth to adopt and adhere to behavioral and
biomedical HIV prevention methods. NCM is a proven public health approach that involves coordinated,
individualized, comprehensive care delivered by a registered nurse that includes health assessment, care plan
development, prevention education, and health and social service navigation and addresses the social
determinants of health including behavioral, psychosocial, and situational factors to optimize HIV prevention in
this high risk population. Guided by the Comprehensive Health Seeking and Coping Framework, we will
conduct a randomized controlled trial of an enhanced NCM intervention, NCM4HIV, delivered to YEH 16-25
years old in collaboration with health and social service providers to assess the intervention’s effect on uptake
of and adherence to HIV prevention strategies. NCM4HIV is an enhanced HIV prevention case management
that provides direct HIV prevention services (PrEP, nPEP) and individualized HIV prevention planning using MI
and behavior feedback technology. Aim 1: Determine whether the enhanced NCM intervention increases
uptake of HIV prevention strategies (PrEP and nPEP uptake, HIV testing, STI screening and treatment, and
condom use) when compared with usual care received by YEH (N=450; aged 16-25 years). Aim 2: Determine
whether NCM4HIV improves mental health, substance use, and housing status when compared with control
youth at baseline, immediate post and 3, 6, and 9 months. As an exploratory aim, we will determine whether
whether health seeking, coping, HIV risk perception, PrEP/nPEP barriers and facilitators, and condom self-
efficacy mediate the effect of the intervention on uptake of PrEP/nPEP and condom use. This early-stage and
new-investigator initiated R01 is significant because it has the ability to improve uptake of HIV prevention
strategies and reduce new HIV cases in a high-prevalence group. NCM4HIV is innovative because it uses
nurses to directly deliver enhanced NCM and can be applied to improve any existing YEH HIV prevention
program, making it a highly scalable and sustainable model that capitalizes on the “come as you are” approach
promoted by the National Healthcare for the Homeless Council (NHCHC). It aligns with the NIH HIV High
Priority Research Areas for reducing HIV by identifying strategies to adopt, integrate, and scale up sustainable
interventions in high HIV-prevalence and substance-using groups. If NCM4HIV is efficacious, we will work with
NHCHC to scale it across the 300 programs and 3,300 homeless clinics that serve youth experiencing
homelessness.
