Study Overview

“Local Effectiveness Assessment Project (LEAP): A Case Study of a Local Jurisdiction Providing HIV Services to MSM”

5b. Brief Study Overview (for Recruitment)

Brief Study Overview (for Recruitment)

Project Title: Local Effectiveness Assessment (LEAP): A Case Study of a Local Jurisdiction Providing HIV Services to MSM

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has contracted with The Atlas Team (Atlas Research and Abt Associates) to conduct a study on understanding strategies and improve the burden of the HIV epidemic among MSM. The purpose of the LEAP project is to increase understanding of local jurisdictional trends and needs for HIV prevention among men who have sex with men (MSM). Combining a review of surveillance data, quantitative analysis, and detailed case studies, LEAP will ultimately inform ongoing policy, recommendations, and approaches to more effectively address the HIV epidemic. Your facility has been identified as a recommended site and we would greatly appreciate your participation in this important study.

Site Visit Information

We are conducting site visits with public and private HIV organizations and agencies in Philadelphia to better understand the current success and challenges in the response to the HIV epidemic among MSM in your local jurisdiction. Two 1-week sites visits will be conducted and will include:

• Qualitative interviews with a focus on services and benefits provided; accomplishments; and issues in HIV prevention for MSM.

• Documentation of the HIV epidemic (e.g., local jurisdiction surveillance reports and epidemiological research), public policy (e.g., local policies and planning documents), and government and community activities (e.g., government agency and organizational reports and web-site or social media content).

Key Participant Interviews

As part of this study, we will conduct interviews with key participants of three of the social ecological model levels (MSEM) public policy, community, and individual/network. A total of (30) interviews will be conducted with individuals across all categories and MSEM levels. The interview process for each participant includes a verbal consent, a demographic questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The entire process is anticipated to take one hour of the participant’s time. With permission from the respondent, these interviews will be audio-taped. No names and limited personally identifiable information (PII) from participants will be collected. All recordings and notes will be maintained on encrypted password protected computers. Only redacted transcript data will be delivered to CDC. At the end of the contract, all interview recordings and notes will be destroyed.

Document Review

Prior to the site visit, we will request access to a range of documents including, but not limited to, annual reports, new hire manuals, and policies and procedures. As available, data reviewed may include: local policies, planning documents, Medicaid expansion related policy documents, local jurisdiction surveillance documents, local jurisdiction viral load documents, government agency reports, organizational reports and web-site or social media content from local NGOs and private providers, epidemiological research in local jurisdiction, and others. If an organization cannot provide a particular document, the document will be recorded as “missing”. This is a document review therefore interviews will not be conducted to collect this data. However, staff from the PDPH or a particular organization can be consulted for specific clarifying questions as necessary. The data will be collected on hard copy forms and entered into an Excel dataset and converted to SPSS, and stored on secured laptops. The hardcopies will be stored in locked file cabinets in Atlas secured facilities. At the end of the contract, the team will deliver the SPSS datasets to CDC via secured data transfer, and Atlas Abt will destroy the hard copy forms.

Current Status and Timeline

Our study has received approvals from Abt’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). We will begin data collection in __ of 2015.