A Nurse-led Intervention to Extend the Veteran HIV Treatment Cascade for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention

The VA is the largest single provider of HIV care in the US and Veterans with HIV use significantly more healthcare services and have a 1.5-2x higher risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) compared to uninfected Veterans. The goal is to improve BP treatment for Veterans with HIV to reduce ASCVD risk. Within a randomized controlled trial (RCT), the investigators hypothesize that the VA adapted nurse-led intervention will result in a clinically significant 6 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) reduction in systolic blood pressure (SBP) over 12 months compared to those receiving enhanced education only. The study is innovative because of the use of stakeholder-engaged design process, multi-component nurse-led intervention, and VA Video Connect (VVC) to monitor CVD risk factors. The project meets VA strategic priorities including: 1) greater choice for Veterans; 2) improve timeliness of services; 3) focus more resources more efficiently (strengthen foundational services in VA). If shown to be effective, this intervention will have substantial impact among high-risk Veterans, potentially reducing ASCVD events by more than a quarter.