Leveraging Social Networks to Promote PrEP among Young Men

Youth and young adults have elevated rates of HIV incidence, particularly young men (ages 16-29). HIV incidence in young men is in part driven by low uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) due to multilevel barriers. In my prior work, I led a community-driven media campaign entitled “PrEPárate” (“Be PrEPared”) which promoted PrEP information and a website with affordable options to access PrEP. The campaign was associated with increased PrEP awareness and use among insured adults but had limited reach to young men with barriers to PrEP access. In this K23 career development award, I propose to develop, pilot, and evaluate a multilevel intervention that combines a refined media campaign and peer-based strategy, informed by social network analysis. For youth and young adults, social networks of peers and family are especially influential in decision making and present an opportunity to promote PrEP. Through this award, I will receive new training and mentored experience in (1) social network analysis, (2) multilevel intervention development, and (3) implementation science. This K23 will lay the groundwork for an R01 application to conduct a randomized controlled trial studying the effectiveness of a multilevel intervention to increase PrEP use among young men. This proposal will advance understanding of factors that shape young men’s social networks and also will help identify optimal strategies to promote PrEP among young men. Through this training, I will gain the skills required to transition to independence as an investigator with expertise in interventions to improve preventive health among youth and young adults.