Developing a suicide prevention intervention for people with HIV in South Africa
The following grant was awarded by, is supported by, is administered by or is in partnership with the Fogarty International Center at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Funding Fogarty Program
Emerging Global Leader
Project Information in NIH RePORTER
Developing a suicide prevention intervention for people with HIV in South Africa
Principal Institution
University of Cape Town
Principal Investigator(s) (PI)
Rabie, Stephan
Project Contact Information
Email:
stephan.rabie@uct.ac.za
Year(s) Awarded
2024-2029
Country
South Africa
NIH Partners
NIMH
Project Description
In South Africa, people with HIV (PWH) face synergistic psychosocial and situational stressors that increase their risk for suicide and adversely affect outcomes across the HIV care continuum, including delayed antiretroviral therapy initiation, poor treatment adherence, increased risk of transmission, and lower life expectancy. This study aims to:
- explore primary healthcare-level suicide treatment practices, gaps, and needs among PWH;
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- develop a brief behavioral intervention addressing suicide and HIV care engagement (MI-Cope-Care);
- refine MI-Cope-Care in an iterative, sequential pre-pilot study; and
- evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness of MI-Cope-Care in a pilot randomized controlled trial.
If MI-Cope-Care is found to be feasible and acceptable, it will produce the first intervention in South Africa that addresses the dual burdens of suicide and HIV, which could be further examined for effectiveness and application in other resource-constrained settings.
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