PrEP 4 Teens
PrEP4Teens aims to adapt the PrEP4Love campaign, a pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)-awareness campaign designed for sexual and gender minority (SGM) adults in Chicago, to an adolescent audience. PrEP is a daily oral pill for HIV prevention and is up to 99% effective if taken daily. It is also being tested in an injectable format that is not currently available by prescription.
We brought together a team with scientific and practical expertise with PrEP in SGM youth, health communications, social marketing campaigns, and implementation science.
Our Aims
Examine SGM adolescent and adult stakeholder perspectives on adolescent-focused PrEPmessaging and,
Obtain adult stakeholder and SGM adolescent feedback on draft campaign materials and a preliminary dissemination plan.
Phases of the Study
Phase 1: We enrolled 50 SGM adolescents in the Cook County, IL, in online asynchronous focus groups over the course of 7 days. We also enrolled 30 adult stakeholders in a 60-minute interview to examine aim 1. Adult stakeholders included educators, parents/guardians, community organization staff, and healthcare providers who work with teens. Questions asked participants’ perspectives on existing PrEP/HIV prevention campaigns, preferences for an adolescent adaptation of a current PrEP social marketing campaign for adults, and perceived barriers and facilitators to its implementation
Phase 2: We held a campaign design Think Tank led by local SGM teens. Six local SGM teens participated in 5 sessions to develop drafts of a teen-centered PrEP campaign. The final products included digital posters, murals, stickers, and TikTok challenges.
Phase 3: We launched 2 feedback surveys to solicit feedback on the campaign drafts from the Think Tank. The first version is designed for the 80 participants from the focus group and interviews, and another version is designed for 200 additional community stakeholders. Respondents provided feedback to the campaign draft and our dissemination plans.