News

Five LDI Senior Fellows Win Grants to Study Transitional Housing for People with HIV

Project Funded Through a Partnership of LDI, Penn CFAR and the City of Philadelphia

December 10, 2024

By:

Hoag Levins

Print:

LDI Senior Fellows receiving grants: **Stephen Bonett, PhD, RN**, Penn School of Nursing; **Aaron Richterman, MD, MPH**, Perelman School of Medicine; **Malitta Engstrom, PhD, LCSW**, School of Social Policy & Practice; **Atheendar Venkataramani, MD, PhD**, Perelman School of Medicine; **Dennis Culhane, PhD**, School of Social Policy & Practice.

Five LDI Senior Fellows have been awarded grants supporting three research pilot projects focused on the development and implementation of effective transitional housing interventions for people with HIV. The research is being funded through a partnership of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (LDI), Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH) Division of HIV Health (DHH), and the Penn Center for AIDS Research (CFAR).

Stable transitional housing plays a crucial role in HIV treatment programs because it significantly impacts health outcomes. Evidence shows that stable housing is strongly associated with a higher likelihood that an individual will be prescribed antiretroviral therapy and achieve higher rates of viral suppression.

Crucial to HIV Treatment

Among the barriers that keep people with HIV from stable housing are HIV-related stigma, the reduced physical ability to work and afford housing, the rising cost and widespread shortage of housing in general across the country, the ability to produce viable rental history, especially for younger clients, and mental health disorders and substance use, which are more prevalent among people with HIV experiencing homelessness.

The LDI Senior Fellows receiving the grant awards are Stephen Bonett, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor Family and Community Health at the Penn School of Nursing; Dennis Culhane, PhD, Professor of Social Policy at the Penn School of Social Policy & Practice; Malitta Engstrom, PhD, LCSW, Associate Professor at the School of Social Policy & Practice; Aaron Richterman, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Infectious Disease at the Perelman School of Medicine; and Atheendar Venkataramani, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the Perelman School of Medicine.

Three Pilots

Funded for $115,000, the three pilot projects that are part of the partnership’s overall “Transitional Housing for People with HIV Experiencing Housing Instability” initiative are:

Stephen Bonnett received an award for “The Impact Of Housing Context In Philadelphia’s Transitional Housing Program For People With HIV.” The ongoing study integrates in-depth qualitative inquiry with quantitative measures of housing characteristics, neighborhood context, and clinical outcomes to identify pathways through which Housing First strategies in Philadelphia may transform HIV outcomes.
Dennis Culhane and Co-Investigators Malitta Engstrom and Antonio Parisi, were funded for the project, “Engagement and Enrollment in Transitional Housing: Perspectives among People Living with HIV and Service Providers.” This study aims to engage in semi-structured qualitative interviews with 20 people living with HIV, and with 15 case managers and program supervisors, recruited through Philadelphia’s Department of Public Health (PDPH) and Division of HIV Health’s (DHH) new transitional housing and supportive services program.
Aaron Richterman and Atheendar Venkatarami were supported for a two-year project to assess the causal effects of a publicly administered transitional housing program in Philadelphia on health, economic, and psychologic outcomes among people with HIV.