News Release
Michigan study to focus on HIV prevention for transgender and gender nonconforming youth
November 2, 2015 news release from the University of Michigan School of Public Health
ANN ARBOR, MI – The University of Michigan School of Public Health Center for Sexuality and Health Disparities is leading a national study to learn more about how transgender and gender nonconforming youth navigate the health care system for HIV prevention services and care.
The study, Affirming Voices for Action (AVA), will help identify optimal HIV services to those youth, ages 16-24, who have a gender identity or gender expression that differs from the sex they were assigned at birth.
“Upon completion of our study we expect to have a much more accurate assessment of just how engaged transgender and gender nonconforming youth are in seeking HIV prevention services,” said Gary Harper, professor of health behavior and health education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and principal investigator of the study. “And once we have this information, we will be better equipped to go the next step and design HIV programs and services and train clinicians to meet the needs of transgender and gender nonconforming youth.”
Researchers will survey both youth and providers in order to identify barriers and facilitators that influence transgender and gender nonconforming youths’ full engagement across the continuum of HIV care services. The U-M-led study is part of the Adolescent Medicine Trials Network for HIV/AIDS Interventions involving 14 clinics and hospitals across the United States. Conducting AVA in 14 cities across the United States allows for a large-scale, national study of this traditionally hard-to-reach population.
“Most of the HIV research that we have about transgender youth is geographically restricted,” said co-investigator Dr. Sari Reisner, assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School. “This study represents an exciting opportunity to work with transgender and other gender minority youth across 14 national sites and to engage local trans communities in these regions. It’s a terrific opportunity to work with both local and national partners to render visible the unique issues facing transgender and other minority youth in the U.S.”
Data collected for AVA will be used to create resources on best practices for working with transgender and gender nonconforming youth, which will be made available free of cost to health care and social service providers.
“We are excited that this study will give transgender and gender non-conforming youth the opportunity to let us know what they need and want related to HIV prevention and treatment services,” said Harper. “Then we will be able to respond quickly by working to improve the services the youth receive.”
AVA is seeking transgender and gender nonconforming young people (ages 16-24 years) to participate in a research survey and an in-person interview about experiences accessing health care, HIV prevention, and HIV care. The one-year study was funded through the Adolescent Medicine Trials Network. It will run through the end of December 2015 and is open to individuals living with HIV, not living with HIV, and those who do not know their HIV status.
AVA also is seeking health care and social service providers who work with transgender and gender nonconforming young people to participate in phone interviews. To find the AVA location nearest you and learn more about the study, visit www.affirmingvoicesforaction.com.
In addition to Harper and Reisner, AVA investigators include Miguel Martinez, Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles; and Liz Salomon, Fenway Institute, Fenway Health, Boston. U-M staff researcher Laura Jadwin-Cakmak is coordinating the project across all 14 sites.
The Adolescent Medicine Trials Network is funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Mental Health.
Contact: Terri Mellow, Senior Media Strategist
Phone: (734) 764-8094
E-mail: twm@umich.edu
