Integrated Services for Mental Health & HIV Prevention

In March 2022, Dr. Jennifer Velloza, received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to adapt, test, and optimize the Friendship Bench intervention for South African adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in PrEP delivery settings.

The Friendship Bench is a promising, evidence-based problem-solving therapy (PST) that has been shown to improve HIV treatment adherence in busy HIV clinics. It is currently being scaled up in South Africa, and early data suggest it could be adapted to improve PrEP adherence among African women.

This study aims to:

• Conduct a hybrid type 2 effectiveness-implementation study to assess the early impact of the Youth Friendship Bench South Africa on PrEP adherence and mental health, while optimizing the intervention to fit cost constraints in PrEP delivery settings.
• Identify themes around the acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of the intervention.

This work could improve both PrEP adherence and mental health outcomes for AGYW. It also sets the stage for another study to test the scaled-up version of the intervention. This project is in its final year, with participant follow-up now closed. The research team is currently analyzing the data; final results will be available by March 2026.