Juntas Adelante: A Peer-Coaching Intervention to Promote Chemoprophylaxis for HIV Prevention Among Latina Transgender Women in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area.

Juntas Adelante: A Peer-Coaching Intervention to Promote Chemoprophylaxis for HIV Prevention Among Latina Transgender Women in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area.

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the impact of the Juntas Adelante intervention on awareness and use of chemoprophylaxis for HIV prevention (Pre- and Post-Exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP and PEP) among Latina Transgender Women in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area. Secondary outcomes included awareness and use of Doxy-PEP (i.e., Doxycycline for prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections - STI), and awareness of Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U).

The main questions are:

1. Is the Juntas Adelante intervention acceptable and feasible to implement with this population?
2. Is participating in the Juntas Adelante intervention associated with increased awareness and use of PrEP and PEP? All participants in the study will view 5 online short videos on HIV and STI prevention and will receive up to two virtual coaching sessions with a peer coach. They will also complete a brief survey after viewing each video (5 total) and three longer surveys/interviews over the course of 3 months.

Using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach, we developed Juntas Adelante, an intervention to increase awareness and use of PrEP and PEP for HIV prevention among Latina transgender women in the DC metropolitan area. The Juntas Adelante intervention includes two components:

1. Peer coaching sessions: Up to two virtual coaching sessions with another Latina transgender woman (peer coach) who has been trained to encourage dialogue around HIV prevention goals.
2. Video mini-series: Five short informational videos covering 5 topics (one per episode): 1) Latina transgender women and HIV (duration: 2:29 min); 2) Post-exposure prophylaxis - PEP (duration: 3:49 min); 3) Pre-exposure prophylaxis - PrEP (duration: 1:58 min); 4) Doxy-PEP (duration: 3:25 min); and 5) Undetectable equals Untransmittable - U=U (duration: 3:47 min). Videos were housed into the Vimeo platform, and were embedded into REDCap surveys for distribution.

Participant recruitment and eligibility: Participants will be recruited via referrals from community members (i.e., members of the Community Council, other study participants). Eligibility criteria include: 1) Male sex assigned at birth, currently identifying as a woman, transgender woman, transgender, or transsexual, irrespective of gender transition stage; 2) identifying as Latina, regardless of country of birth; 3) being 18 years old or older; 4) living in the DC metropolitan area; 5) self-reporting HIV negative status at study enrollment 6) reporting having receptive anal and/or neovaginal sex with at least one cisgender man or transgender woman in the previous 12 months; 7) not currently using PrEP or report less than 3 months of use; 8) have access to a cellphone with internet capabilities, and 9) not planning to move from the DC metropolitan area in the next 12 months.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male sex assigned at birth, currently identifying as a woman, transgender woman, transgender, or transsexual, irrespective of gender transition stage;
• Identifying as Latina, regardless of country of birth;
• Being 18 years old or older;
• Living in the DC metropolitan area;
• Self-reporting HIV negative status at study enrollment
• Reporting having receptive anal and/or neovaginal sex with at least one cisgender man or transgender woman in the previous 12 months;
• Not currently using PrEP or report less than 3 months of use;
• Must have access to a cellphone with internet capabilities,
• Not planning to move from the DC metropolitan area in the next 12 months

Exclusion Criteria:

- Not meeting all of the inclusion criteria.