Project Summary/Abstract
The goal of this R15 Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) study is to build knowledge about the
impact of COVID-19 shifts in criminal-legal practices on the HIV risk behaviors of justice-involved women who
use drugs (WWUD). WWUD are disproportionately impacted by HIV. Incarceration has been identified as one
of the myriad individual and structural factors that elevates the HIV risk of WWUD. During the COVID-19
pandemic, the number of women incarcerated in Connecticut was drastically reduced to avoid prison crowding.
This change in criminal-legal practices created an opportunity to build knowledge about the impact of non-
incarceration responses to illicit behavior on the HIV risk of WWUD. The specific aims of the study are to (1)
Provide undergraduate students at Southern Connecticut State University the opportunity to gain significant
experience with community engaged research; (2) Identify the pre-COVID-19 HIV risk behaviors and protective
factors of justice-involved WWUD; (3) Document and assess HIV risk during COVID-19 among justice-involved
WWUD. Multiple methods will be used in this longitudinal qualitative study. First, qualitative life history
interviews will be conducted with 30 formerly incarcerated adult WWUD in New Haven, CT, in order to
understand and describe their lived experiences and HIV risk prior to COVID-19. This data will create a
baseline understanding about their psychosocial conditions and interactions with criminal-legal systems. Next,
the same sample of women will participate in individual calendar-based interviews in order to document their
HIV risk and interactions with criminal-legal systems during COVID-19 (March 2020 – March 2022). After these
interviews have been conducted, a sub-sample of 10 study participants will participate in an 8-week digital
storytelling program. The digital stories produced during this stage of the study will offer additional data about
participants’ lives during COVID-19 that will triangulate the calendar data and offer a creative tool for sharing
findings with community. Rapid Qualitative Inquiry methods will be used to collect, manage, and analyze data
in ways that centers team-based work, insiders’ perspectives, and iterative practices that facilitate rapid
understanding and dissemination of findings. All aspects of this study will be developed and conducted by a
diverse team of undergraduates in partnership with community consultants who have been personally
impacted by incarceration and drug use. Students will meet regularly with the PI and consultants, conduct 12
interviews each, co-facilitate the digital storytelling project, analyze data, author papers, and disseminate
findings. A website will be developed to share preliminary findings and final analyses, and the study team will
present findings at academic conferences, community forums, and through peer-reviewed journals. By
diversifying the research workforce and analyzing the COVID-era experiences of WWUD, this project aligns
with NIH’s commitment to social science research that addresses the structural determinants of HIV risk.
