STEPS for African American Women Formative Study (Focus Group for HIV Prevention) - Clinical Trial
What is the Purpose of this Study?
We are doing this study to get community feedback about how we can better understand and reduce the various stigmas impacting the use of HIV prevention methods for African American, cisgender women living in Durham or the surrounding areas in the NC Triangle (e.g., Raleigh or Chapel Hill). We need your help to better understand these stigmas, to create ways to reduce them, and to provide better access to prevention methods. We want to hear from you and your peers.
A Focus Group Related to HIV Prevention Amongst Black/African American Women
Who Can Participate in the Study?
Cisgender women ages 18+ who:
- Identify as Black/African American
- Live in the Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill metro area
Male partners of anyone who meets the above criteria are also eligible to take part.
For more information about who can be in this study, please contact the study team at 919-613-1425 or steps@duke.edu.
What is Involved?
If you decide to take part in this study, we will schedule you to attend an individual interview (either in-person, over video call, or phone call) and/or we may ask you to attend a one-time group discussion (either in-person or over video call) with about seven other African American cisgender women (or men for the men's focus group).
During the individual interview or group discussion, we will ask you about things that may make it easier or harder for African American cisgender women to access HIV prevention methods and about reducing stigma relating to accessing HIV prevention methods or PrEP. We will only ask for your opinions; we will not ask personal questions in the group discussion. PrEP stands for "pre-exposure prophylaxis." It is a daily pill that people take to lower their chance of getting HIV.
The in-depth interview can last up to an hour, and the group discussion is expected to last up to 2 hours. We will record the individual interview or group discussion to help us remember everyone's feedback. If you do not want to be recorded, you can choose not to take part in the group discussions. The audio recording will be stored securely at Duke University and not shared with people who are not connected to this research. It will be destroyed after publication of the study's main findings.
You can take a brief survey online to see if you are eligible for the study and to get in touch with us: Study Eligibility Survey