Panel Discussion 14 - Advancing Equity: Involving and Retaining Vulnerable Populations at Risk of HIV and Substance Use in Hybrid and Remote Studies

Moderated by Aradhana Srinagesh, his panel will review sampling, recruitment, and retention challenges in working with people who use drugs with and are vulnerable to HIV in multiple contexts, particularly, focusing on individuals with marginalized identities (i.e., gender; sexual orientation; race/ethnicity). Panelists will draw on their own experiences by providing unique perspectives and practical insights. We will highlight barriers, methodologies, and solutions relevant to involving and retaining people who use drugs with and are vulnerable to HIV in hybrid and fully remote studies. Dr. Christopher Chiu will discuss work that focuses on engaging with sexual and gender minority (SGM) communities with and vulnerable to HIV, including communities that are ethnically/racially marginalized. He will discuss lateral strategies he has employed to partner with community-based organizations in Boston, to increase SGM access to health services. Majo Bustamante will discuss a project aimed at exploring psychological, social, cultural, and structural barriers to sexual health care (e.g., HIV/STI testing, PrEP/nPEP) among Hispanic and Latino immigrant MSM through an online survey. These data will form the basis of a tailored Telehealth intervention to enhance sexual health care among this population. Déjà Clement will discuss examining barriers and facilitators to PrEP uptake in Black MSM (BMSM) in rural settings. This will include discussing challenges in recruitment and retention for qualitative research with BMSM and socio-cultural considerations. Findings highlight the importance of taking an intersectional approach to working with multiple marginalized populations. Dr. Abigail Batchelder will discuss efforts to parameterize flexibility in intervention protocols to enable meeting people who use drugs with and are vulnerable to HIV where they are. This includes identifying facilitators and barriers to engagement in evidence-based interventions and collaboratively adapting content, dose, delivery modality, etc. to be feasible, acceptable, and accessible. This panel may be of particular significance for individuals working with people who use drugs and people with marginalized identities more broadly.