Impact of Representative Payee Services on ART Adherence Among Marginalized People Living With HIV/AIDS

Client-Centered Representative Payee is a structural intervention that provides financial management support to PLWHA by modifying the implementation of a long-standing policy within the Social Security Administration, in which an organization is authorized to serve as the client's payee. The central hypothesis of this study is that by helping clients to pay rent and other bills on time, housing stability will improve and financial stress will decrease. By reducing the cognitive burden of living with chronic financial stress and frequent threats of housing loss, clients can devote more time and attention to medical appointments and medication adherence. It is further hypothesized that these changes will improve clients' self-efficacy for health behaviors, retention in care, medication adherence, and viral loads. These hypotheses will be tested via the following specific aims: (1) Conduct a randomized controlled trial with two randomized arms (n=160) and two non-randomized arms (n=50) to test the effect of Client-Centered Rep Payee on ART adherence and viral load among PLWHA who are economically disadvantaged and unstably housed. Clinical adherence will be compared through behavioral and biological measures including prescription refill data, self-reported appointment adherence, and viral load for patients receiving the intervention versus those receiving standard of care. (2) Test underlying mechanisms associated with Client-Centered Rep Payee that contribute to changes in medication adherence and viral suppression rates. This will be accomplished via use of quantitative (mediation analysis) and qualitative (semi-structured interview) methods to test hypothesized mediators of medication adherence and viral suppression including financial and housing instability, financial stress, self-efficacy for health behaviors, and retention in care. (3) Assess the cost and cost-effectiveness of the Client-Centered Rep Payee model. An economic analysis will be conducted to model