Co-creating strategies to promote uptake of HIV self-testing among young adults in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina: a protocol for a pilot implementation study
BackgroundHIV testing is the gateway to entering HIV care and prevention services. However, HIV testing rates remain low among young adults (18–29 years old) in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (NC), an ending the HIV epidemic (EHE) priority jurisdiction. We aim to utilize community-engaged and pa...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-03-01
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| author | Ucheoma Nwaozuru Lindsay Miller Laura H. Gunn Laura H. Gunn Laura H. Gunn Sebastian Marin-Cespedes Margaret Hanff Patrick Robinson Michael Dulin Meghana Muralidhar Prashant Jha Goodness C. Mirikwe Donaldson F. Conserve Chelsea Gulden Bernard A. Davis Kristie Foley Joseph Tucker Joseph Tucker Meagan Zarwell Meagan Zarwell |
| author_facet | Ucheoma Nwaozuru Lindsay Miller Laura H. Gunn Laura H. Gunn Laura H. Gunn Sebastian Marin-Cespedes Margaret Hanff Patrick Robinson Michael Dulin Meghana Muralidhar Prashant Jha Goodness C. Mirikwe Donaldson F. Conserve Chelsea Gulden Bernard A. Davis Kristie Foley Joseph Tucker Joseph Tucker Meagan Zarwell Meagan Zarwell |
| author_sort | Ucheoma Nwaozuru |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundHIV testing is the gateway to entering HIV care and prevention services. However, HIV testing rates remain low among young adults (18–29 years old) in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (NC), an ending the HIV epidemic (EHE) priority jurisdiction. We aim to utilize community-engaged and participatory approaches to co-create implementation strategies to promote the reach and uptake of HIV self-testing (HIVST) among young adults in the region. This study protocol outlines the phases of the project and the proposed outcomes.MethodsThe Community-engaged Approaches to Expand HIV Self-Testing among Young Adults in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (CATEST) project will be conducted in three phases, guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR), and Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) frameworks. The formative phase of the study, guided by CFIR, will focus on understanding the barriers, facilitators, and opportunities for implementing HIVST among young adults in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. The second phase, guided by CBPR, will utilize participatory approaches such as crowdsourcing open calls and charrettes to co-create implementation strategies for HIVST. Then, the final pilot implementation phase, guided by CFIR and RE-AIM, will use mixed methods to evaluate the success of the co-created HIVST implementation strategies using a pre-post design. Participants in the study will complete a baseline survey and a follow-up survey immediately following intervention completion. In addition, a purposive sample of participants and representatives at the participating community organization will complete qualitative exit interviews within 1 month of intervention completion.DiscussionThis study protocol outlines the co-creation of implementation strategies, tests their feasibility, and explores preliminary effectiveness in promoting HIVST uptake among young adults in Mecklenburg County, NC. The study will yield insights on the feasibility of leveraging the capabilities of community and youth innovation to promote young adults-centered implementation strategies to advance the reach and adoption of HIVST among young adults.RegistrationRegistered on Open Science Forum-DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/2BZWV. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-7fb7a018c23541b38b48e609b7554b2c |
| institution | Kabale University |
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| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-7fb7a018c23541b38b48e609b7554b2c2025-08-20T03:44:28ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Health Services2813-01462025-03-01510.3389/frhs.2025.15362361536236Co-creating strategies to promote uptake of HIV self-testing among young adults in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina: a protocol for a pilot implementation studyUcheoma Nwaozuru0Lindsay Miller1Laura H. Gunn2Laura H. Gunn3Laura H. Gunn4Sebastian Marin-Cespedes5Margaret Hanff6Patrick Robinson7Michael Dulin8Meghana Muralidhar9Prashant Jha10Goodness C. Mirikwe11Donaldson F. Conserve12Chelsea Gulden13Bernard A. Davis14Kristie Foley15Joseph Tucker16Joseph Tucker17Meagan Zarwell18Meagan Zarwell19Department of Implementation Science, Division of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, United StatesDepartment of Epidemiology and Community Health, College of Health and Human Services, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, United StatesDepartment of Epidemiology and Community Health, College of Health and Human Services, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, United StatesSchool of Data Science, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, United StatesSchool of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, London, United KingdomDepartment of Epidemiology and Community Health, College of Health and Human Services, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, United StatesDepartment of Epidemiology and Community Health, College of Health and Human Services, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, United StatesDepartment of Health Policy and Management and the Academy for Population Health Innovation, College of Health and Human Services, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, United StatesDepartment of Health Policy and Management and the Academy for Population Health Innovation, College of Health and Human Services, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, United StatesCollege of Health and Human Services, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, United StatesMusculoskeletal Institute, Atrium Health Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, NC, United StatesDepartments of Biology and Chemistry, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, United StatesDepartment of Prevention and Community Health, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States0RAIN Inc., Charlotte, NC, United States1RAO Community Health, Charlotte, NC, United StatesDepartment of Implementation Science, Division of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, United States2Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina at Chapel-Hill School of Medicine, Chapel-Hill, NC, United States3Clinical Research Department, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United KingdomDepartment of Epidemiology and Community Health, College of Health and Human Services, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, United States4Violence Prevention Center, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, United StatesBackgroundHIV testing is the gateway to entering HIV care and prevention services. However, HIV testing rates remain low among young adults (18–29 years old) in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (NC), an ending the HIV epidemic (EHE) priority jurisdiction. We aim to utilize community-engaged and participatory approaches to co-create implementation strategies to promote the reach and uptake of HIV self-testing (HIVST) among young adults in the region. This study protocol outlines the phases of the project and the proposed outcomes.MethodsThe Community-engaged Approaches to Expand HIV Self-Testing among Young Adults in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (CATEST) project will be conducted in three phases, guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR), and Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance (RE-AIM) frameworks. The formative phase of the study, guided by CFIR, will focus on understanding the barriers, facilitators, and opportunities for implementing HIVST among young adults in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. The second phase, guided by CBPR, will utilize participatory approaches such as crowdsourcing open calls and charrettes to co-create implementation strategies for HIVST. Then, the final pilot implementation phase, guided by CFIR and RE-AIM, will use mixed methods to evaluate the success of the co-created HIVST implementation strategies using a pre-post design. Participants in the study will complete a baseline survey and a follow-up survey immediately following intervention completion. In addition, a purposive sample of participants and representatives at the participating community organization will complete qualitative exit interviews within 1 month of intervention completion.DiscussionThis study protocol outlines the co-creation of implementation strategies, tests their feasibility, and explores preliminary effectiveness in promoting HIVST uptake among young adults in Mecklenburg County, NC. The study will yield insights on the feasibility of leveraging the capabilities of community and youth innovation to promote young adults-centered implementation strategies to advance the reach and adoption of HIVST among young adults.RegistrationRegistered on Open Science Forum-DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/2BZWV.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frhs.2025.1536236/fullcrowdsourcingcommunity-based participatory approachesyoung adultsHIV self-testingNorth Carolina |
| spellingShingle | Ucheoma Nwaozuru Lindsay Miller Laura H. Gunn Laura H. Gunn Laura H. Gunn Sebastian Marin-Cespedes Margaret Hanff Patrick Robinson Michael Dulin Meghana Muralidhar Prashant Jha Goodness C. Mirikwe Donaldson F. Conserve Chelsea Gulden Bernard A. Davis Kristie Foley Joseph Tucker Joseph Tucker Meagan Zarwell Meagan Zarwell Co-creating strategies to promote uptake of HIV self-testing among young adults in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina: a protocol for a pilot implementation study Frontiers in Health Services crowdsourcing community-based participatory approaches young adults HIV self-testing North Carolina |
| title | Co-creating strategies to promote uptake of HIV self-testing among young adults in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina: a protocol for a pilot implementation study |
| title_full | Co-creating strategies to promote uptake of HIV self-testing among young adults in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina: a protocol for a pilot implementation study |
| title_fullStr | Co-creating strategies to promote uptake of HIV self-testing among young adults in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina: a protocol for a pilot implementation study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Co-creating strategies to promote uptake of HIV self-testing among young adults in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina: a protocol for a pilot implementation study |
| title_short | Co-creating strategies to promote uptake of HIV self-testing among young adults in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina: a protocol for a pilot implementation study |
| title_sort | co creating strategies to promote uptake of hiv self testing among young adults in mecklenburg county north carolina a protocol for a pilot implementation study |
| topic | crowdsourcing community-based participatory approaches young adults HIV self-testing North Carolina |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frhs.2025.1536236/full |
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