Buddhist Understanding and Reduction of Myanmar Experiences of HIV Stigma and Exclusion

Sponsor

University of California, Los Angeles (Other)

Overall Status

Not yet recruiting

CT.gov ID

NCT05126225

Collaborator

(none)

Enrollment

Location

Arm

7.9

Anticipated Duration (Months)

Patients Per Site Per Month

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

This project aims to explore a multi-leveled conceptualization of the effects of HIV stigma on HIV care engagement in Myanmar by conducting a mixed-method study.

Condition or Disease	Intervention/Treatment	Phase
Hiv Stigma, Social Mindfulness	Behavioral: Stigma reduction	N/A

Detailed Description

This project is to explore how Myanmar People Living With HIV (PLWH) experience and manage HIV stigma as inspired by Buddhist teaching, and to adapt an evidence-based stigma-reduction intervention to tailor treatment for the unique needs of Myanmar People Living With HIV.

A stigma-reduction intervention will be adopted to the needs of Myanmar People Living With HIV with six focus groups.

Study Design

Study Type:

Interventional

Anticipated Enrollment :

24 participants

Allocation:

N/A

Intervention Model:

Single Group Assignment

Intervention Model Description:

The intervention is modularized to have eight weekly sessions of 2-hour group discussions, led by a trained facilitator.The intervention is modularized to have eight weekly sessions of 2-hour group discussions, led by a trained facilitator.

Masking:

None (Open Label)

Primary Purpose:

Supportive Care

Official Title:

Buddhist Understanding and Reduction of Myanmar Experiences of HIV Stigma and Exclusion

Anticipated Study Start Date :

Sep 1, 2022

Anticipated Primary Completion Date :

Apr 30, 2023

Anticipated Study Completion Date :

Apr 30, 2023

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/Treatment
Experimental: Protocol group The intervention is modularized to eight weekly sessions of 2-hour group discussions. The facilitator applies the principle of Cognitive Behavior Therapy and provides psychoeducation to promote the awareness and understanding of HIV stigma as well as training to help participants acquire alternative coping skills, such as relaxation techniques. In five sessions, participants are introduced to the general cognitive-behavioral model of HIV stigma and are encouraged to track their thoughts, feelings, and behavioral responses when encountering external stigma or adverse events. The participants further learn to differentiate helpful and non-helpful coping strategies and practice applying helpful coping skills to effectively reduce their HIV stigma. In the other three sessions, participants further discuss more specific stigma that intersects with HIV stigma, including stigma in healthcare settings, access to social support, and available resources on the society levels.	Behavioral: Stigma reduction The intervention is modularized to have eight weekly sessions of 2-hour group discussions, led by a trained facilitator. The facilitator applies the principle of CBT and provides psychoeducation to promote the awareness and understanding of HIV stigma as well as training to help participants acquire alternative coping skills, such as relaxation techniques.

Arm

Intervention/Treatment

Experimental: Protocol group

The intervention is modularized to eight weekly sessions of 2-hour group discussions. The facilitator applies the principle of Cognitive Behavior Therapy and provides psychoeducation to promote the awareness and understanding of HIV stigma as well as training to help participants acquire alternative coping skills, such as relaxation techniques. In five sessions, participants are introduced to the general cognitive-behavioral model of HIV stigma and are encouraged to track their thoughts, feelings, and behavioral responses when encountering external stigma or adverse events. The participants further learn to differentiate helpful and non-helpful coping strategies and practice applying helpful coping skills to effectively reduce their HIV stigma. In the other three sessions, participants further discuss more specific stigma that intersects with HIV stigma, including stigma in healthcare settings, access to social support, and available resources on the society levels.

Behavioral: Stigma reduction

The intervention is modularized to have eight weekly sessions of 2-hour group discussions, led by a trained facilitator. The facilitator applies the principle of CBT and provides psychoeducation to promote the awareness and understanding of HIV stigma as well as training to help participants acquire alternative coping skills, such as relaxation techniques.

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

Stigma [8 weeks]
HIV stigma was assessed using the Perceived Stigma Scale (PSS), a 40-item scale. Each item is measured using a 4-point Likert type and it contains four factors: personalized stigma (18 items), disclosure concerns (12 items), negative self-image (9 items), and concern with public attitudes about people with HIV (12 items). Each factor (or subscale) is scored separately and the total score is computed by summing the 40 items. Reliability coefficient alphas ranged from 0.90-.93 for the factors and 0.96 for the total scale and 2-3 week test/retest correlations ranged from 0.89-.92 (Berger, Ferrans, & Lashley, 2001).

Secondary Outcome Measures

QOL [8 weeks]
QOL was measured with Veterans SF (VSF)-12 Quality of Life. VSF-12 is a 12-item health questionnaire developed from the U.S. Each indicator variable is weighted for each of the response choices minus one. The VSF-12 questionnaires have been administered nationally by the Veterans Administration (VA) where there have been more than 2.5 million administrations since 1996. The eight domains are scored from 0 (worst) to 100 (best). The scores are linear transformed t-tests, with 50 as the mean and 10 as the standard deviation (SD) based on a normally distributed population. The VSF-12 was modified from the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item short-form (MOS SF-36) in domains that cover "role limitations due to physical and emotional problems" by replacement of dichotomized yes/no choices with a 5-point ordinal scale that ranges from "no, none of the time" to "yes, all of the time." These changes increase the precision and discriminatory validity of the role scales, PCS, and MCS.

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:

18 Years and Older

Sexes Eligible for Study:

All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers:

Inclusion Criteria:

HIV-Positive
Care by Myanmar Positive Group
Living in Myanmar
can stay in the period of intervention

Exclusion Criteria:

Not HIV
Living outside of Myanmar
Not care by MPG
Cannot stay for the study period

Contacts and Locations

Locations

	Site	City	State	Country	Postal Code
1	Myanmar Positive Group	Yangon		Myanmar	99999

Sponsors and Collaborators

University of California, Los Angeles

Investigators

None specified.

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Publications

None provided.

Responsible Party:

Weiti Chen, RN, CNM, PhD, FAAN, Principal Investigator, University of California, Los Angeles

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:

NCT05126225

Other Study ID Numbers:

18-001769

First Posted:

Nov 18, 2021

Last Update Posted:

Jun 16, 2022

Last Verified:

Jun 1, 2022

Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement:

Undecided

Plan to Share IPD:

Undecided

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product:

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product:

Keywords provided by Weiti Chen, RN, CNM, PhD, FAAN, Principal Investigator, University of California, Los Angeles

stigma

Mindfulness

Myanmar

Study Results

No Results Posted as of Jun 16, 2022