An Ecosystem-Based Intervention to Reduce HIV Transmission Risk and Increase Medication Adherence Among Inmates Being Released to the Community

Abstract

HIV+ inmates reentering their communities are at increased risk for poor health outcomes and for transmitting HIV. This article reports on a randomized trial comparing an ecosystem-based intervention and an individually focused intervention for reducing HIV transmission risk and improving medication adherence. Reincarceration was considered as a secondary variable. Both groups decreased sexual risk behavior over the 12-month follow-up period. Unexpectedly, the ecosystem intervention group was less likely to be taking medication or to be adherent and more likely to have been reincarcerated. Failure to demonstrate a significant advantage of the ecosystem intervention may have resulted from the difficulty of engaging family and other ecosystem members in the intervention. Implications for developing and applying interventions for this population are discussed.