Resilience Intervention for Older, HIV-Infected Women

Overview. Participants will be women living with HIV (N=up to 40) age 50 or over. Women will be recruited from the Boston area. Based on the investigators' qualitative work, the investigators will deliver an adapted version of the 3RP resiliency intervention to groups of 5-8 HIV-infected women age 50 and over. The 3RP intervention will consist of 8-10 weekly sessions of 90 minutes each focused on skills training to build and enhance resilience. The investigators will conduct baseline and post-treatment quantitative assessments, in addition to individual exit interviews to solicit feedback on the intervention. These data will be used to inform the design of a future randomized pilot study. Study procedures. Participants (N = up to 40) will be HIV-infected women age 50 or over . Participants will be recruited via study flyers (posted in the infectious disease clinics at local hospitals and in the waiting areas of Boston area community organizations) and provider referral. Once an individual expresses interest in the study, a research assistant will screen that individual to assess study eligibility criteria. Individuals who meet inclusion criteria will be invited to sign informed consent and complete an in-person baseline assessment. Participants will then complete the intervention (described below), a post-treatment assessment, and an individual in-depth exit interview to provide feedback on their experience in the study. 3RP Intervention: Once enrolled in the study, participants will complete weekly group sessions of the 3RP intervention. Sessions will focus on developing an understanding of stress sources and physiology, and on developing a regular practice of eliciting the relaxation response (RR) and learning cognitive behavioral and positive psychology skills to enhance resiliency to long-term stress. Participants will be encouraged to practice skills (RR practice, thoughts records to learn adaptive thinking) between group sessions.