Stepped Care for Youth Living With HIV

"Youth will receive 1-5 text messages per day for at least 12 months. Banks of about 750 messages (70-120 messages per domain) focus on the HIV Treatment Continuum, with messages focused on dedicated to healthcare, wellness, sexual health, drug use and medication reminders. Youth will be able to choose the time and frequency that they receive daily texts. Preferences for the timing and type of messages can be updated at 4-month assessment points.~Youth will complete weekly monitoring surveys by text message. The survey will cover six domains related to the HIV Treatment Continuum. If YLH do not respond to the text, reminder messages will be sent to the youth. After three days of non-response a follow-up call by an interviewer will be made to the YLH."

"Youth will be enrolled in online, private discussion groups.~Peer Support will be offered by fellow participants and/or Youth Advisory Board members that have been trained in basic information on HIV, STI, drug use, mental health, homelessness, and stigma; using social media to create wall posts and use chat functions; and, how to initiate conversations on sensitive topics. By posting and responding to messages, Peer Supporters will encourage and broadly guide conversation related to the HIV Prevention Continuum, and other relevant topics.~Coaches and Project Coordinators will be available to provide factual information (as needed), and remove inappropriate content."

Youth will have be assigned to a Coach trained in a strengths--based Coaching intervention, as well as common foundational theory, principles and skills used in adolescent HIV Evidence-Based Interventions (EBI). Youth preferences will drive the intervention delivery - whether in-person, electronically via the phone, email, text message, social media private messaging.