Rutgers Nursing Magazine - Summer 2020

R U T G E R S N U R S I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 2 0 16 / 17 Lelutiu-Weinberger is also attacking stigma at its source, training mental health providers (MHP) across Romania, for instance, on the health needs of the LGBT community. Funded by a supple- mental grant [3], one such project, initiated in 2015, increased MHPs’ clinical skills and knowledge, as well as their comfort in working with LGBT individuals, and significantly decreased their homophobia. After that, the research colleagues received funding for a much larger trial [4], which, she reports, “was highly effective.” The next step, she says, is to take this model to a national health care level in an upcoming project. Because stigma isn’t limited to low-and mid-income countries— “the U.S. has plenty of stigma to go around,” Lelutiu-Weinberger notes — she’s now applying what she learned in Romania to gay and bisexual populations in New Jersey, in projects like TelePrEP, which will provide virtual medical appointments to patients seeking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medication but cannot access it where they live, designed to protect against HIV. In a parallel project, to counteract high levels of stigma against transgender individuals, she’s proposing a virtual reality app- based intervention using patient and counselor avatars to improve access to HIV testing and PrEP counseling by increasing gender affirmation [5]. In her work with marginalized populations, a surprise has emerged: the fact that so many of those enduring stigma in their daily lives are nevertheless highly resilient. That’s increased her focus “on helping people in stigmatized groups build a positive sense of self,” she says, in what she aptly describes as “strength- based approaches.” n [1] “An Innovative HIV Prevention Intervention Using Social Networking Technology,” National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), $292,962, R03DA031607. [2] “Building Mobile Health HIV-Prevention Capacity for MSM in Romania,” Fogarty International Center (FIC), $421,821, R21TW009925. [3] “Building Mobile Health HIV-Prevention Capacity for MSM in Romania,” supplement, Fogarty International Center (FIC), $85,327, R21TW009925S1. [4] “Increasing Provider Competence for Treating Stress-Related Mental Health Conditions in Low-Resource Settings,” Fogarty International Center (FIC), $419,119, R21MH113673. [5] “I Am Me: A Motivational Virtual Reality Intervention to Address Intersectional Stigma and Increase HIV Prevention Engagement;” National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH); resubmission in 2020. Above, (L-R): Street scenes in Romania.