HIV-related stigma remains a major barrier that prevents people from accessing both preventive medications, such as PrEP and PEP, and ART. By working collaboratively with community members and leaders across Ontario and Alberta, we conducted this multi-phase intervention study to examine the impact of the Acceptance and Commitment to Empowerment (ACE) program on HIV stigma reduction in racialized immigrant communities . Using the updated Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) as an analytical framework, we evaluated the effectiveness of the ACE program, which was specifically designed to reduce HIV stigma for racialized immigrant communities in Canada.

The study showed that:
The ACE intervention effectively reduced interpersonal HIV stigma between service providers and their clients, which was previously perpetuated unconsciously in the course of service delivery.

It enhanced psychological flexibility and acceptance of lived HIV experiences, empowering some service providers to become HIV anti-stigma activists in both their workplaces and communities.

Long-term adoptability of the intervention and the scope of adoption (full versus partial) is however dependent on the size, vision, and mission/goals of the collaborating organizations, as wells favourable implementation climate such as government policies that promote the integration of the ACE intervention into health and social service delivery settings.

Learn more, please download the full research poster below:
Title: From Intervention to Practice: Evaluating effectiveness of an HIV stigma reduction intervention for racialized immigrants in Canada
Authors:   Sulemana Saaka, Josephine Pui-Hing Wong, Isaac Luginaah