Symposia
Health Psychology / Behavioral Medicine - Adult
Audrey Harkness, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor
University of Miami
Miami, Florida
Elliott R. Weinstein, M.P.H., M.S.
Predoctoral Psychology Trainee
University of Miami
Miami, Florida
Daniel Hernandez Altamirano, BS
Graduate Student
University of Miami
Miami, Florida
Alyssa Lozano, M.S.
Graduate Student
University of Miami
Miami, FL
Pranusha Atuluru, BS
Graduate student
University of Miami
Miami, Florida
Daniel Mayo, B.S.
Research Associate
University of Miami
Miami, Florida
Susanne Doblecki-Lewis, MD
Professor of Clinical Medicine
University of Miami
Miami, Florida
C. Hendricks Brown, PhD
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Northwestern University
Chicago, Illinois
Carlos Rodriguez-Diaz, PhD
Associate Professor
George Washington University
Washington, District of Columbia
Guillermo Prado, PhD
Professor
University of Miami
Miami, Florida
Steven A. Safren, Ph.D., ABPP
Professor of Psychology
University of Miami
University of Miami, Florida
Background: Latino men who have sex with men (LMSM) experience HIV and behavioral health inequities. Yet, evidence-based behavioral (e.g., CBT) and HIV-prevention (e.g., pre-exposure prophylaxis/PrEP) interventions inadequately reach LMSM. We are developing a supporting intervention (i.e., an intervention to promote engagement in clinical interventions such as CBT and PrEP) to address this healthcare disparity. COVID-19 emerged during our formative work to develop this supporting intervention. This presentation describes how the emergence of COVID-19 affected the development of this intervention and implications for future intervention development.
Methods: We draw from three data sources: (1) the DÍMELO study, which administered the Pandemic Stress Index to evaluate LMSM’s (N=275) behavioral, psychosocial, and medical experiences during COVID-19, (2) Dime del Virus, a rapid qualitative study exploring the impact of COVID-19 on LMSM’s (N=20) sexual behavior, stress, and healthcare access, and (3) phase one of Dime Más, a qualitative study exploring components of a supporting intervention to increase HIV-prevention and behavioral health treatment uptake among LMSM (N=25). Findings were triangulated to identify implications for developing the supporting intervention during COVID-19.
Results: LMSM’s responses to the Pandemic Stress Index showed high levels of anxiety (64.4%), depression (59.0%), and alcohol/substance use (27.6%) attributable to COVID-19. Compared to US born LMSM, financial loss due to COVID-19 was higher among recent immigrants (OR = 2.75, 95% CI: 1.30, 5.82) and COVID-19 diagnosis was higher among established immigrants (OR = 4.52, 95% CI: 1.60, 12.81). Findings from Dime del Virus revealed that COVID-19 led to initial reductions in sex with casual partners followed by an increase due to “quarantine fatigue,” changes in general and minority stress, and challenges accessing healthcare. Findings from Dime Más underscored the relevance of telehealth due to COVID-19.
Conclusion: Collectively, findings indicate a need for this new supporting intervention to (1) leverage new service delivery models (e.g., telehealth), (2) address emerging or worsened mental health among LMSM due to COVID-19, (3) navigate LMSM through increasingly complex and disrupted healthcare systems, and (4) acknowledge structural barriers worsened by COVID-19. Promoting LMSM’s engagement in evidence-based behavioral health (e.g., CBT) and HIV-prevention interventions has become even more important in the context of COVID-19.