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Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Center for Dissemination & Implementation Science

ARCH - Research Component 3

Advancing Integrated Alcohol-HIV Training of Frontline Providers in a Global Priority Setting

The Alcohol Research Center on HIV (ARCH) is a multidisciplinary program project grant focused on reducing the impact of alcohol on the breadth and depth of the HIV epidemic. Research Component 3 was specifically designed to apply implementation science methods to promote integrated alcohol-HIV care in South Africa, a country at the epicenter of the global HIV epidemic.

South Africa is at the epicenter of the global HIV pandemic and has alarming rates of alcohol use, which pose a significant challenge to the HIV care cascade. Integrated alcohol-HIV care is the gold standard, but delivery of integrated care in South Africa is extremely rare. Recognizing the detrimental effects of risky alcohol use on the HIV care cascade, and in response to a needs assessment of national stakeholders and policy-makers, this research component evaluates a highly scalable train-the-trainer initiative on Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to (SBIRT) for risky alcohol use. Using a novel task-sharing approach, we will provide SBIRT implementation support to over 900 health professionals and lay workers embedded within HIV treatment organizations. Study activities address three specific aims:

  1. Develop a SBIRT train-the-trainer manual and suite of resources suitable for lay counselors.
  2. Evaluate the effectiveness of the SBIRT train-the-trainer model on key implementation science outcomes measured at the trainer (e.g., fidelity, knowledge), provider (e.g., attitudes, self-efficacy, acceptability) and patient encounter levels (e.g., proportion of patients who receive each component of SBIRT – screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment).
  3. Examine the relationship among trainer-, provider- and patient encounter-level outcomes.

Results of this study will advance knowledge of key implementation science questions, while promoting the integration of alcohol and HIV care, in a global priority setting.

Project Details

  • Dates: September 2020 – May 2025
  • Funding source: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
  • Grant number: P01AA019072

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