Photo Credit: Annette Larkin, CONRAD
The five MPii projects engaged participants at the HIV Research For Prevention Conference (HIV R4P) in October with a joint satellite session titled, “Sex, Intimacy, and HIV Prevention: What do women—and their partners—really want? Incorporating end-user input and developing a market launch strategy for PrEP.”
The session included presentations and a panel discussion showcasing how the work of EMOTION, OPTIONS, POWER, CHARISMA, and GEMS complement one another to create an integrated approach for PrEP delivery – from end-user insights and mental models to product development and market shaping communications.
More than 75 people attended the session, with one person noting that “this [discussion] should have been the opening plenary.”
Presentations focused on human-centered design (HCD) to complement existing data on end users experience with PrEP, development of the PrEP brand, messages, and packaging, approaches for evaluating PrEP delivery, and market shaping communications for the category of HIV prevention products. Additionally, the session included a panel discussion with representatives from all five MPii projects on how they are collaborating to engage end users and stakeholders in PrEP messaging, design, access, and uptake.
In addition, EMOTION presented a poster on the Project Kalahari findings, “Inspiring demand: Leveraging human centered design to improve microbicide uptake and adherence” and OPTIONS presented a poster, “Tapping into the unheard voices of end-users to deliver on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for adolescent girls and young women.”
CHARISMA also presented two posters titled, “Disclosure of vaginal ring use to male partners in an HIV prevention study: impact on adherence” and “Relationships dynamics, agency, and trust in the context of microbicide use: Formative research results from the CHARISMA study in Johannesburg.” The team also gave a CHARISMA-associated oral presentation titled, “Frequency of partner-related social harms and their impact on adherence to the dapivirine vaginal ring during the MTN020/ASPIRE HIV Prevention Trial.”
Finally, GEMS gave an oral presentation, “HIV-1 resistance outcomes in seroconverters from the MTN-020/ASPIRE Dapivirine Vaginal Ring Study,” which reported resistance findings and amplified the importance of the meta-study conducted by the MPii projects.