Loyola School of Social Work Launches Innovative HIV/AIDS Study

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Prior to joining Loyola University Chicago, Darrell Wheeler, PhD, current dean of Loyolas School of Social Work, was heavily involved in HIV/AIDS prevention research that has contributed to the development of HIV/AIDS education, training, testing, and more. Now, more than a year after joining Loyola, Dr. Wheeler is leading a new HIV/AIDS prevention study called Black Men Evolving, also known as B-ME.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has been a pressing health issue for the last three decades, and as of March 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that there are currently 1.2 million people living with the disease in the United States. Although people infected span across all ages, ethnic groups, and lifestyles, a handful of groups tend to see higher rates of infection than others. One of those groups is African-American men who have sex with other men. After studying these trends, Dr. Wheeler and Loyolas School of Social Work developed the B-ME study to evaluate the efficacy of preventative treatment in reducing this groups percentage of infection.

Something is wrong. We shouldnt be seeing these rates of infection within this group, given the population, said Dr. Wheeler, who will be the principal investigator of the study. If you think about this epidemic, this study is a fitting action for Loyola because of the Universitys commitment to social justice and integrating intellectual resources to unlock problems here in Chicago.

The five-year study, ending in April 2015, is a home-grown study, meaning it is being conducted in the community instead of within a University, and it is funded by the CDC. The study will look at whether behavioral intervention, focusing on critical thinking and cultural affirmation, can help lower this groups rate of high-risk sexual behavior. The primary goal of the study is to promote safe-sex norms, positive attitudes toward condom use, and self-protection from HIV/AIDS through behavioral intervention.

Stephen Armstead, the B-ME study coordinator, describes B-ME as different from other HIV/AIDS studies in two main ways. First, the intervention is behavioral instead of biomedical. The study is looking at how effective behavioral change is as opposed to the changes brought about by medical drugs. Second, the study does not focus on identity. The researchers are purposely are using the term men who have sex with other men instead of labeling participants as gay or homosexual.

We are attempting to not be labeled as a gay study so as not to stigmatize people. HIV is not transmitted by identity, it is transmitted by behavior, said Armstead.

The study calls for 438 African-American men who have sex with other men. All participants will be given a survey at the start of the study regarding their sexual practices. They will then be split into two groups: a control group and an intervention group. Those in the control group will receive monthly text messages that positively reinforce cultural ideas and self-affirmation. The participants in the intervention group will attend a weekend retreat, as well as receive the monthly text messages. All the men will take the surveys again at the three-month mark and the six-month mark.

For more information on this study, or to participate, contact 312.291.9399, or bme@luc.edu.

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