Combating HIV Stigma in Healthcare Settings: A Standardized Patient Approach
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Stigma reduction intervention.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Hiv. Basic parameters: 18 years — 99 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- United States
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Overview
The goal of this study is to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a training program to reduce intersectional stigma faced by sexual minorities and people living with HIV (PLWH) in healthcare settings. The study participants are medical providers (i.e. physicians) specializing in sexual health medicine in Vietnam.
Detailed description
Consistent data highlight the central role of stigma in limiting uptake of HIV related testing, treatment, and care. This is particularly true for gay, bisexual, and other MSM who have the lowest rates of engagement with the healthcare system despite bearing the highest HIV incidence burden. Particularly for MSM seeking HIV testing services, enacted stigma-overt acts of discrimination and hostility directed at a person because of their perceived stigmatized status -both on account of their same-sex behaviors (i.e. sexuality stigma or homophobia) and the perception of their elevated HIV risk (HIV stigma) is all too common. Trained standardized patients (SP) will present a standardized case to providers.
SPs will present clinically standardized case scenarios, but the HIV status and sexual orientation of each case will be randomly varied. Stigma will be evaluated by comparing the quality of care that SPs experience during provider visits. Results of the baseline visit will inform the development of a stigma reduction training program for provider participants employed at clinics randomized to the treatment arm. The overall structure consists of didactic content as well as experiential learning using simulation-and-feedback sessions with trained SPs.
Interventions
- Behavioral Stigma reduction intervention
Care providers will complete the Stigma Reduction Intervention curriculum. The intervention is a multi-day stigma reduction training program for providers. Content design is greatly informed by materials developed in our pilot R34 study, and which may be modified prior to the intervention if the team gains new insights from the baseline round of unannounced visits and each of the two CABs. Briefly, the intervention consists of both didactic and experiential learning components. Didactic session
Primary outcome measures
- Impact of the intervention on healthcare stigma directed at men who have sex with men (i.e. homophobia) in which stigma is measured as differences in whether or not syphilis testing was offered to MSM vs straight patients. [Time frame: 3 months]
- Impact of the intervention on healthcare stigma directed at people living with HIV (i.e. HIV stigma), in which stigma is measured as differences in whether or not syphilis testing was offered to patients living with HIV vs those not living with HIV. [Time frame: 3 months]
- Impact of the intervention on healthcare stigma directed at people living with HIV who are also MSM (i.e. intersectional stigma), measured as differences in whether syphilis testing was offered to MSM with HIV vs. straight men without HIV. [Time frame: 3 months]
- Impact of the intervention on healthcare stigma directed at men who have sex with men (i.e. homophobia), in which stigma is measured as differences in the level of diagnostic effort expended by doctors for MSM patients vs straight patients. [Time frame: 3 months]
- Impact of the intervention on healthcare stigma directed at people living with HIV (HIV stigma), in which stigma is measured as differences in diagnostic effort expended by doctors for patients living with HIV vs. patients not living with HIV. [Time frame: 3 months]
- Impact of the intervention on healthcare stigma directed at people living with HIV and who are MSM (i.e. intersectional stigma), in which stigma is measured as differences in diagnostic effort by doctors for MSM with HIV vs. straight men without HIV. [Time frame: 3 months]
- Impact of the intervention on healthcare stigma directed at men who have sex with men (homophobia), in which stigma is measured as differences in the patient-centeredness of care provided to MSM vs. straight patients. [Time frame: 3 months]
- Impact of the intervention on healthcare stigma directed at people living with HIV (HIV stigma), in which stigma is measured as differences in the patient-centeredness of care provided to patients living with HIV vs. those not living with HIV. [Time frame: 3 months]
- Impact of the intervention on healthcare stigma directed at people living with HIV and who are MSM (i.e. intersectional stigma), in which stigma is measured as differences in patient-centeredness of care for MSM with HIV vs. straight men without HIV. [Time frame: 3 months]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
Eligible facilities are those with capacity to provide STDs care and treatment services. Within eligible and consenting facilities, eligible providers are those who are licensed at the time of the study to practice STD care in Vietnam.
Exclusion criteria
- None
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: Yes
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Parallel assignment
- Masking
- Open label
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
Study locations
United States · 1 center
- University of Minnesota — Minneapolis
Identifiers
NCT: NCT06975176 · HIV Stigma