Project Rise is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) of an innovative, culturally congruent treatment education (TE) intervention for African Americans with HIV that targets cultural and social issues contributing to health disparities. TE facilitates patient navigation through the medical system and provides treatment education and client-centered counseling to improve adherence and retention in care. TE targets structural issues in healthcare and patients' lives by advocating to providers to improve patient-provider relationships, recommending changes in treatment and/or providers, and referring patients to mental health and social services.
A total of 350 Black participants will be recruited through APLA Health and randomly assigned to the intervention or usual care control group (175 per group). Adherence will be electronically monitored daily (and downloaded bi-monthly) from baseline to 13-months post-baseline. Viral load will be assessed through venipuncture at baseline and 6- and 13-months post-baseline. It is hypothesized that the intervention group will show better adherence and have a greater likelihood of suppressed viral load than the control group over time.
