Grant: Operating Grant - PA: HIV/AIDS Bridge Funding - Health Services/Pop Hlth Stream

Grounded in a community-based participatory research framework, the proposed study aims to better understand the HIV risk environment and prevalence of HIV among people who use drugs in Ottawa, Ontario and surrounding communities. The PROUD Study will rely on peers' expertise stemming from their lived experience to guide all aspects of this CBPR project. The study will enroll 1200 drug users (defined as anyone who has injected or smoked drugs other than marijuana in the last 12 months) into an open cohort study. Participants will complete a one-time questionnaire administered by a trained peer or medical student, who will then administer a point of care HIV test. Recruitment, interviews and testing will occur in either the fixed research site or various community settings across Ottawa and its surrounding areas, to ensure that hidden populations who do not access services are reached. Prospective follow up will occur through linkages to health care records available through ICES. Recruitment into PROUD began in March 2013 and to date, over 400 participants have been enrolled. There will be three waves of recruitment to enroll 600 participants from the downtown area of Ottawa; 300 from other known areas within Ottawa where drug users reside; and 300 from surrounding communities in Ontario. It is expected that the findings of this study will result in a greater understanding of the HIV risk environment among illicit drug users and the development of community-based models that enhance HIV testing and treatment referral, while building community capacity and fostering ownership of the study among the community of people who use drugs in Ottawa. Furthermore, it is expected that the CBPR methods developed in this study will contribute to new knowledge of successful approaches to CBPR which take into account the meaningful engagement and self-determination of people most affected by HIV.