CARES: Helping young women use oral, injectable, or ring PrEP in South Africa and Zimbabwe
CARES: An adherence support intervention for multiple PREP methods among adolescent girls and young women in South Africa and Zimbabwe
This project offers counseling, biomarker feedback, and choices like support clubs, phone calls, and SMS to help adolescent girls and young women in South Africa and Zimbabwe keep using oral, injectable, or ring PrEP.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Research Triangle Institute NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Research Triangle Park, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11373303 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would be offered counseling, regular adherence biomarker feedback, and a menu of extra supports such as support clubs, phone calls, or SMS messages to help you use PrEP. The team will adapt the CARES package so it can be delivered in routine clinics and will add injectable PrEP alongside oral pills and the monthly ring. They will carry out formative work and then test the adapted package in clinics in Zimbabwe and South Africa to see how well people keep using PrEP and whether clinics can deliver the program reliably. The study collects information on adherence, continuation, and whether the approach is acceptable and feasible in real-world settings.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adolescent girls and young women in South Africa or Zimbabwe who are at risk for HIV and are starting or currently using PrEP.
Not a fit: People who are not adolescent girls or young women, do not live in South Africa or Zimbabwe, or are not interested in using PrEP are unlikely to benefit from this program.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could help more young women keep protective levels of PrEP and lower their risk of HIV.
How similar studies have performed: A prior study (MTN-034) using CARES showed promising results with protective adherence at 57% of visits versus 14–32% in comparable studies, so the approach has encouraging preliminary evidence.
Where this research is happening
Research Triangle Park, United States
- Research Triangle Institute — Research Triangle Park, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Roberts, Sarah Tyler — Research Triangle Institute
- Study coordinator: Roberts, Sarah Tyler
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.