Le Kip Kip: A Campaign to Change Social Norms and Build Sustainable Demand for PrEP Among Women in South Africa

Summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of a social media campaign and community engagement activities to promote pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use among young women and to influence community norms around PrEP in South Africa. To do this, the investigative team will analyze PrEP initiation and retention data from the study's implementing partner, TB HIV Care, a non-profit organization providing PrEP to marginalized young women in South Africa. The effect of the social media campaign and community engagement will be tested using a short duration cluster randomized trial (CRT).

Conditions

• Pre-exposure Prophylaxis
• HIV Infections

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Social Media Campaign

PrEP social influence campaign, which will use online approaches to promote PrEP within communities in addition to the standard of care activities. Messaging crafted with community input will be geographically targeted to women, parents/mentors, and male partners on Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp, all with the intention to promote PrEP for women at high risk of HIV infection and change community norms and influence around PrEP. A combination of static imagery and brief videos will be used to engage these groups via social media platforms. A Facebook page will be created and maintained that can be accessed by anyone anywhere, but will only be advertised/promoted in the intervention districts.

BEHAVIORAL

PrEP Champions

Within venues served by the FSW and AGYW programs, the team will identify and train 1 venue-based PrEP champion per venue who will receive supplies (e.g. a hat, pin and posters, flyers, IEC material) to wear to promote PrEP, facilitate linkage between women interested in PrEP and the TB HIV Care PrEP programme. PrEP champions will be either peers with experience taking PrEP, venue managers or local influencers (e.g. women running shops next to the mobile serving AGYW) that have repeated contact with the women the programme is intended to serve. The final selection of PrEP champions will be made in consultation with the Community Advisory Groups, venues and by the programme who works closely with each of the sites.

BEHAVIORAL

Community Mobilization

A PrEP community mobilization team (2 peers, including one woman and one man) will be recruited within each ward to promote PrEP. The team will present information about PrEP and the PrEP programme at the ward councilors meeting, at Learning Support Agent meetings with parents/guardians, at local events/fairs, community meetings and through engaging men, women and parents across the community through informal conversations. Teams will be wearing branded material and will focus on presenting factual information and decreasing PrEP stigma. Each team will focus on promoting PrEP within their own ward over the 6-month period.

OTHER

Standard of Care

Full-time peer educators employed by the TB HIV Care programme to engage women, layer PrEP promotion across prevention programs, and implement "refer a friend" strategies, information, education and communication (IEC) materials, service user testimonials, risk reduction posters to increase young women's perception of risk, working after hours/weekends to reach young women, working with school governing bodies, and door-to-door outreach.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

  collaborator NIH

• TB HIV Care

  collaborator OTHER

• Community Media Trust

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Sheree R Schwartz, PhD · Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

NONE

Model

FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

15 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-10-01

Primary Completion

2023-09-30

Completion

2023-11-20

Countries

• South Africa

Study Locations