An mHealth Intervention to Improve HIV Prevention Service Engagement Among People Who Use Drugs

The LOTUS intervention is a technology-delivered intervention to improve HIV prevention service engagement for people who use drugs. LOTUS provides HIV prevention informational content and tips, peer social support and social networking features, a resource locator, HIV prevention monitoring and reminders (e.g., reminders for HIV/STI testing and PrEP doses), and a virtual space to have questions answered by health care professionals. Given the disproportionate HIV-related harms people who use drugs face, and critical need for HIV prevention mHealth interventions tailored to the unique needs of this population, the current study seeks to accomplish the following aim. The primary aim is to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary impact of the LOTUS intervention in a single arm pre-post study. People who use drugs residing in Southern California (n = 40) will receive the LOTUS intervention for 6-months. The proportion of participants retained, intervention use data, and validated self-reported usability and HIV prevention service (e.g., HIV/STI testing, PrEP) knowledge, motivation, and use measures will be collected at baseline, 3-, and 6-months to assess LOTUS feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary impact. The investigators hypothesize that participants in the LOTUS intervention will find the intervention to be feasible and usable, and that they will demonstrate significant improvements in HIV prevention service use at each follow-up time point when compared to baseline. The investigators will also conduct exit interviews with LOTUS participants (n = 20) to gain feedback on the intervention characteristics, as defined by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, and to elicit suggestions for improvement in anticipation of a future large-scale randomized controlled trial.

Inclusion criteria

• 18 years of age or older
• Report weekly or daily use of opioids and/or stimulants in the past 6 months
• Meet current CDC eligibility criteria for PrEP
• Report low levels of HIV prevention service engagement in the past 6 months
• Not currently, or planning on becoming, pregnant during the study
• Owns a smartphone with internet web-browsing capabilities

Exclusion criteria

• 17 years of age or younger
• Does not report weekly or daily use of opioids and/or stimulants in the past 6 months
• Does not meet current CDC eligibility criteria for PrEP
• Report high levels of HIV prevention service engagement in the past 6 months
• Currently, or planning on becoming, pregnant during the study
• Does not own a smartphone with internet web-browsing capabilities