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Purpose

Women living with HIV have 2-4x higher risk for cardiovascular disease compared to women without HIV, with women living with HIV in the Southern US being particularly at risk. While an increased prevalence of traditional risk factors (e.g., hypertension, diabetes, and obesity) partially explain this risk, evidence suggests that increased exposure to structural and social stressors (e.g., poverty, discrimination, and stigma) among women living with HIV in the South negatively contribute to cardiovascular disease disparities through their impact on stress. The Stress Management and Resiliency Training (SMART) program is an effective, evidence-based intervention proven to improve resiliency to environmental stressors and reduce the physiologic responses to stress which contribute to cardiovascular disease. While the SMART program has demonstrated efficacy in a wide range of populations and settings, it has not been designed for or tested among women living with HIV in the South, where unique cultural and faith-based context may diminish the uptake and value of the intervention to mitigate cardiovascular disease risk. The purpose of this study is to adapt the evidence-based SMART program in consideration of the needs and contexts of women living with HIV in the Southern US and pilot the adapted intervention to establish the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary impact of the adapted intervention to reduce stress and mitigate cardiovascular disease risk among this population.

Conditions

Eligibility

Eligible Ages
Over 18 Years
Eligible Sex
Female
Accepts Healthy Volunteers
No

Inclusion Criteria

  1. cis-gender females at least 18 years of age 2. HIV-seropositive and a patient of the recruiting clinic 3. English speaking

Exclusion Criteria

  1. severe mental illness 2. not being willing able to provide informed consent 3. not willing or able to attend study visits

Study Design

Phase
N/A
Study Type
Interventional
Allocation
N/A
Intervention Model
Parallel Assignment
Primary Purpose
Other
Masking
None (Open Label)

Arm Groups

ArmDescriptionAssigned Intervention
Other
Control 		Usual Care
  • Other: Usual Care
    Usual social and clinical services provided to patients at the recruiting clinic
Other
Intervention 		Adapted Intervention, Previously Established
  • Behavioral: Stress Management and Resiliency Training Program
    The Stress Management and Resiliency Training Intervention is an evidence-based intervention to reduce physiologic responses to stress that may contribute to cardiovascular disease risk. The intervention is typically delivered over an 8-week period and works to decrease stress responses by improving psychological resiliency to structural and social stressors and decreasing sympathetic nervous system activation. Eliciting the relaxation response through meditation, mindfulness, and autogenic training are core components.

Recruiting Locations

University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham 4049979, Alabama 4829764 35294
Contact:
Jenni Wise, PhD, MSN
2059969459
jmwise@uab.edu

More Details

Status
Recruiting
Sponsor
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Study Contact

Jenni Wise, PhD, MSN
2059969459
jmwise@uab.edu

Notice

Study information shown on this site is derived from ClinicalTrials.gov (a public registry operated by the National Institutes of Health). The listing of studies provided is not certain to be all studies for which you might be eligible. Furthermore, study eligibility requirements can be difficult to understand and may change over time, so it is wise to speak with your medical care provider and individual research study teams when making decisions related to participation.