MyPEEPS Mobile Plus: A Multi-Level HIV Prevention Intervention for Young MSM

MyPEEPS Mobile Plus, a multi-level intervention for improving HIV prevention outcomes in YMSM, is a novel and evidence-driven approach using mobile technology to deliver HIV prevention information specifically developed for YMSM. Building on strong preliminary work, the proposed research is the next logical step in a body of work designed to assess whether refinement of this mobile intervention used in combination with virtual PrEP Peer Navigation will result in improvements in PrEP uptake and a reduction in HIV-related behavior. This is key to advancing HIV prevention among HIV-negative US persons at extremely high-risk for HIV seroconversion.

This study expands MyPEEPS Mobile to develop MyPEEPS Mobile Plus, a multi-level intervention comprised of MyPEEPS Mobile with added PrEP content (based upon expert advisory and youth feedback) + PrEP E-Peer Navigation to overcome the challenges of PrEP initiation, adherence, and persistence among YMSM. Peer navigation is an evidence-based, widely recommended intervention for reaching youth and MSM for HIV-related care outcomes, with evidence of acceptability among racial/ethnic minority YMSM for PrEP. Peer navigation addresses common reasons for failing to begin or maintain PrEP use, including low perceived risk, structural or logistic barriers to care engagement, and anticipated side effects. Relative to in-person and group-based HIV prevention programs, behavioral interventions with digital and virtual components can have vast reach and present unique potential to rapidly scale delivery to very large and hidden groups. Therefore, the investigators propose to conduct a randomized controlled trial to test the efficacy of MyPEEPS Mobile Plus (a multi-level intervention comprised of MyPEEPS Mobile + PrEP E-Peer Navigation) for promoting initiation, adherence, and persistence of PrEP and decreased HIV risk behavior in YMSM. Building upon the team's demonstrated ability to enroll large numbers of young racially and ethnically diverse YMSM and extensive experience developing mobile health interventions, the proposed study will test the efficacy of this expanded, multi-level mobile HIV prevention intervention emphasizing PrEP. If efficacious, it will increase PrEP initiation, adherence, and persistence and decrease overall HIV risk in diverse YMSM in the US.