_ The 1st REDUCE working group took place on 11-12 December 2011 at Parc de Salut Mar in Barcelona, Spain. The 2nd working group meeting took place on 14-15 May 2012 at the University of the West of Scotland in Paisley. The 3rd working group meeting is planned for November 2012 at the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland. The final meeting will be held at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria in Spring 2013.
Project description
The REDUCE project has 7 phases. In Phase 1, the literature and instruments available to assess HCV risk behaviours and knowledge transmission were reviewed and a toolkit (quantitative questionnaires and qualitative topic guide) developed to measure HCV risk behaviours and transmission knowledge among female IDUs. In Phase 2, 50 female IDUs attending community drug treatment services or needle exchanges or injecting rooms in each partner country, will be interviewed using the toolkit developed in Phase 1. In Phase 3, in-depth qualitative interviews will be conducted with a purposive sample of 24 female IDUs from each partner country (12 HCV+ve and 12 HCV-ve) to deepen our understanding of risks taking behaviours considered in the context of sexual and drug using relationships with male partners. In Phase 4, a systematic review was conducted to examine the efficacy of psychosocial interventions to reduce sexual and risk taking behaviours and increase knowledge of HCV transmission. A survey of best practice of HCV prevention is underway across EU (Phase 5). Key elements may be included in the development of the evidence based intervention.The findings from stages 1-5 will inform the development of an evidence based gender-sensitive group intervention, that will be tested among 6-10 female IDUs in each partner country. The intervention will be modified based on testing, and a manualised therapy will be produced in English, Spanish, German, Italian and Polish (Phase 6), and be disseminated widely (Phase 7).
Project description
The REDUCE project has 7 phases. In Phase 1, the literature and instruments available to assess HCV risk behaviours and knowledge transmission were reviewed and a toolkit (quantitative questionnaires and qualitative topic guide) developed to measure HCV risk behaviours and transmission knowledge among female IDUs. In Phase 2, 50 female IDUs attending community drug treatment services or needle exchanges or injecting rooms in each partner country, will be interviewed using the toolkit developed in Phase 1. In Phase 3, in-depth qualitative interviews will be conducted with a purposive sample of 24 female IDUs from each partner country (12 HCV+ve and 12 HCV-ve) to deepen our understanding of risks taking behaviours considered in the context of sexual and drug using relationships with male partners. In Phase 4, a systematic review was conducted to examine the efficacy of psychosocial interventions to reduce sexual and risk taking behaviours and increase knowledge of HCV transmission. A survey of best practice of HCV prevention is underway across EU (Phase 5). Key elements may be included in the development of the evidence based intervention.The findings from stages 1-5 will inform the development of an evidence based gender-sensitive group intervention, that will be tested among 6-10 female IDUs in each partner country. The intervention will be modified based on testing, and a manualised therapy will be produced in English, Spanish, German, Italian and Polish (Phase 6), and be disseminated widely (Phase 7).
| Phase | Milestone | Months |
| 1 | Development of toolkit to assess HCV risk behaviours and HCV transmission knowledge among female IDUs | 1-4, 6-7 |
| 2 | Quantitative study of HCV risk behaviours and transmission knowledge among female IDUs (n=50 per partner country; total n=250) | 8-13 |
| 3 | Qualitative in-depth interviews to examine HCV risk behaviours and transmission knowledge among female IDUs (n=24 per partner country; total n=120) | 8-13 |
| 4 | Developing the evidence base: Effective interventions to reduce HCV risk behaviours and increase transmission knowledge | 1-4 |
| 5 | Survey of best practice of HCV prevention in EU | 1-4 |
| 6 | Development and piloting of group intervention (n=6-10 per partner country; total n=30-50) | 14-22 |
| 7 | Dissemination of study findings and interventions | 23-24 |