Planning a Multi-Level Intervention to Reduce Substance Use Stigma in HIV Prevention and Care

This is a community-engaged research project that aims to identify and pilot test interventions that may reduce substance use stigma among professionals at primary care sites serving patients who might be exposed to HIV or are living with HIV. Our goal is to develop a multi-level substance use stigma intervention that leverages 1) education and 2) organizational policy to address structural drivers of stigma and the stigmatizing professional attitudes and behaviors that affect patients. Hypothesis: the results of the trial pilot research and are expected to provide scientific evidence demonstrating feasible and potentially effective substance use stigma reduction interventions that go beyond simple individual-level professional training. We plan to build on the data from this pilot trial study to then further test the multi-level intervention in another larger trial study with primary care organizations to determine whether the intervention addresses multiple complex drivers of substance use stigma that influence HIV prevention and care outcomes among people who use drugs.