NCT07226323Recruiting
Testing the WeCare Intervention to Address Mental Health and Medication Adherence Challenges Among MSM in South Africa
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Last updated 29 May 2026
Brief summary (registry, in English)
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if the WeCare intervention-an adapted Friendship Bench program that integrates problem-solving therapy, minority-stress-informed content, and explicit PrEP/ART adherence skills-improves mental health and HIV medication adherence among men who have sex with men (MSM). It will also assess the safety, acceptability, and feasibility of delivering WeCare through trained lay coaches in community clinics. Main questions the trial aims to answer: * Does WeCare reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety among MSM? * Does WeCare improve PrEP and ART adherence and increase rates of viral suppression among participants on ART? * Is WeCare acceptable, feasible, and safe when delivered by lay coaches in POP INN clinics compared with usual care?
- Status (registry)
- Recruiting
- Study type
- Interventional
- Enrollment
- 60 (estimated)
- First submitted
- 7 Nov 2025
- Start date
- 1 Dec 2025
- Primary completion date
- 31 Jul 2027
- Lead sponsor
- Emory University
- Diseases
- HIV
- NCT number
- NCT07226323
What you commit to
- Study type: Interventional
- Planned participants: 60
- From 1 Dec 2025 to the primary completion date, 31 Jul 2027
- 1 site in 1 country
- Visits and tests: ask the trial team, the registry does not list them
Built from the registry fields of ClinicalTrials.gov. It describes the study, not your situation.
Who cannot take part
Copied verbatim from ClinicalTrials.gov and grouped by topic. Only the trial team decides who can take part.
Prior treatment
- Presently engaged in mental health therapy.
Other
- Participated in qualitative phase of WeCare study (AUR2-18-419) or open-pilot (present study).
- Refuses audio recording of the in-person or online individual counselling session
Who the study is looking for
- Male
- reports sexual intercourse with a man in the past 6 months
- reside in the Johannesburg metropolitan area with no plans to relocate during the next 6 months
- ability to communicate in English
- current prescription for any ART regimen (HIV-positive participants) or daily oral PrEP (HIV-negative participants) at the POP INN clinic.
- HIV positive participant only: unsuppressed HIV viral load (HIV-1 RNA viral load ≥200 copies/mL) in the sample collected in the past six months
- HIV negative participants only: Self-reported challenges adhering to daily oral PrEP (i.e miss 3 or more tablets per week)
- Moderate symptoms of depression during past 2 weeks (score on the PHQ-9 ≥10 and \<20)
- Ability to understand and provide informed consent.
Age in the registry: 18 years to - · Sex: Male · Accepts healthy volunteers
Sites (1)
Sites in registry order. Pick your city on the disease page to sort them by distance.
| Site | City | Country | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aurum Institute Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status | Johannesburg | South Africa | Recruiting |
This page is information, not medical advice. Discuss any trial with your doctor.