Adherence to Antiretrovirals in People Living with HIV

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): People living with HIV or AIDS (PLWHA) are often prescribed an antiretroviral regimen to decrease risk for opportunistic infection. These multi-medication regimens are highly complex and burdensome and require almost perfect adherence. Consequently, poor antiretroviral adherence is a vexing problem. We propose an engaging, literacy- and motivationally tailored interactive website intervention to promote adherence to Highly Active Anti Retroviral Therapy (HAART) among PLWHA. The website will be written at three-levels of complexity, include pop-up definitions for difficult words, and provide means to deliver feedback. Dynamic assembly of pages will permit customization and personalization. Through focus group meetings with both PLWHA and health care providers during Phase I, we will assess needs, priorities, and preferences related to website content, and gain ideas for operational features, personalized pages, and web-based communication. This information will be used to develop a pilot version of the website with a motivational-tailoring algorithm that matches content to users' readiness to adhere, Finally, we will conduct a preliminary evaluation of the new intervention's feasibility. During Phase II we will expand website features, content, and tailoring to enhance user motivation, website effectiveness, and repetitive, long-term use. We will then determine the potential effects of repeated visits to the site upon HAART-related knowledge, attitudes, and adherence dimensions, as compared to the effects of non-motivationally tailored and non-interactive versions.