The purpose of this Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) is to develop and test strategies to increase the engagement of men in HIV prevention and care within global settings and among US domestic populations who have evidenced lower rates of engagement and retention in HIV prevention and care. This FOA is specifically focused on developing effective strategies to engage and retain men in HIV prevention and care and assessing the impact of these treatment and prevention strategies along the HIV prevention and care continua. It also calls for pilot research on the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary outcomes for the strategies developed for men. Additionally, a focus will be on modeling the potential impact of successful strategies if implemented across different communities and regions.
Background
Globally, most HIV infections occur among women. Women are disproportionally affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic largely due to gender inequities and societal norms that place them at higher risk to infection. As a result, substantial public health efforts to increase use of HIV testing, prevention, and care services have been directed at women of child bearing age in international contexts.
Less often recognized is how the same gender inequities that sustain the global HIV/AIDS epidemic among women may also disadvantage HIV prevention and treatment outcomes among men. In sub-Saharan Africa, men are less likely than women to know their HIV status, engage in HIV care, initiate antiretroviral therapy (ART), and maintain viral suppression. Globally, men are more likely to die of AIDS-related causes than women.
Multiple factors may decrease the involvement of men in HIV prevention and care. Norms of masculinity and gender roles may dissuade men from healthcare engagement and health practices. They may also sponsor greater drug and alcohol use, inattention to mental health disorders, and HIV stigma among men. The social roles accorded to men can spur employment related migration in certain sub-Saharan settings that challenges men’s sustained engagement in HIV prevention and care services. Additionally, many men lack ready touch-points with the healthcare system, such as the ones that family planning and antenatal care services provide to women.
The goal of this FOA is therefore to develop and test strategies to improve men’s engagement in HIV prevention and care within global settings and among US domestic populations who have evidenced lower rates of engagement and retention in HIV prevention and care. These strategies may be implemented in a range of community settings and venues where men can be reached, and they should provide the capacity to expand men’s engagement in HIV testing, prevention, and care to help prevent the further transmission of HIV.
Specific Areas of Research Interest
Research projects may include, but are not limited to the following:
- Research to better understand the factors driving gender disparities in engagement and retention in HIV prevention and care services, and associated HIV prevention and care outcomes
- Identifying multi-level factors that most negatively impact HIV prevention and care engagement among men at highest risk for HIV acquisition or transmission to identify targets for future interventions
- Identifying venues and methods to efficiently and effectively reach men for engagement in HIV testing, prevention, and care ( e.g., through sports leagues, work, their female partners, etc.)
- Comparing the venues or approaches with the highest yield with regard to engaging men in HIV prevention
- Developing novel individual, interpersonal, or community-level strategies to improve initiation and retention of men in HIV prevention and care programs
- Modeling the impact of male-focused HIV prevention packages in different communities or regions
- Modeling the potential impact of HIV self-testing among men in decreasing the HIV epidemic
- Developing tailored HIV prevention or care strategies for different populations of men (cisgender men, transgender men, male sex workers, migrant men, etc.)
- Development and testing interventions to increase uptake and engagement in HIV prevention and care among US domestic racial/ethnic minority men who have sex with men (MSM)
Applications proposing any of the following research topics will NOT be supported:
- Studies that focus on sexually transmitted infections (STI) prevention and treatment without a focus on HIV
- Studies addressing US domestic men who do not evidence disparities in engagement and retention in HIV prevention and care
Deadlines: standard AIDS dates apply
URL: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-19-042.html
Filed Under: Funding Opportunities