Acceptance and Commitment to Empowerment Intervention to Reduce HIV Stigma and Promote Community Resilience: Protocol...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Social Sciences
• Psychology

Background:

• Racialized immigrants face disproportionate HIV rates in Canada, with 69.5% of new cases in 2022 among these populations.
• HIV vulnerability is exacerbated by stigma intersecting with racism, gender oppression, homophobia, and economic marginalization.
• Stigma and discrimination hinder effective HIV prevention, testing, treatment, and care initiatives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To reduce HIV-related stigma in racialized immigrant communities across six Canadian cities.
• To implement and evaluate the Acceptance and Commitment to Empowerment (ACE) online intervention.
• To assess community needs, build capacity, evaluate implementation, and disseminate findings.

Main Methods:

• Utilized PRISM and RE-AIM frameworks for adaptation, implementation, and evaluation.
• Phase 1: Surveyed organizations and engaged service providers/community members (n=90) to assess needs.
• Phase 2: Refined ACE intervention and conducted Train-the-Trainer (TTT) program (n=48). Phase 3: Delivered online ACE intervention (n=288) using mixed methods.

Main Results:

• Project ACE implementation faced a 2-year delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ethics approvals.
• Recruited 8 community leaders for the Project Advisory Committee and secured 19 collaborating organizations.
• Phase 1 data collection completed as of March 2025; data analysis and knowledge translation are ongoing.

Conclusions:

• Anticipate generating critical knowledge on the effectiveness of the ACE intervention in reducing HIV stigma.
• Expect to identify facilitators and barriers to implementing ACE among racialized immigrants in real-world settings.
• The study aims to advance research, policy, and practice for HIV stigma reduction in vulnerable populations.