Enhancing sexual health and empowerment among migrant women sex workers: a community health worker-led intervention in Marseille, France.

Introduction: Given the high infection rate of sexually transmitted infections (STI) among migrant women sex workers (WSWs), it is necessary to understand how to improve prevention, information and care for this vulnerable population. Community health workers (CHWs), by linking community to health services, are positioned to improve health outcomes in migrant communities. This article aims to describe a pilot innovative intervention performed by CHWs to improve sexual health in migrant WSWs. Methods: This one-year intervention study used a respondent-driven sampling (RDS) to recruit a representative cohort of migrant WSWs in Marseille, France. Four CHWs were recruited from different communities and participated in all stages of the research. They performed individual and group interventions of prevention, support in care and empowerment. Data on participant characteristics, type of intervention and adherence to the intervention were reported via questionnaires given to participants. Simultaneously, semi-structured interviews and informal interviews of migrant WSW, CHWs and care providers were carried out. Results: A total of 132 migrant WSWs were included in the cohort. Very few of them knew about PrEP (12%) or already used HIV post-exposure treatment (9%). Migrant WSWs were often victims of rape or racism, 15 and 21%, respectively. In two-thirds of cases the level of health literacy was low. Participants suffered from a combination of vulnerability factors: difficulties with access to social rights, food or housing. Only 13% reported having benefited from medical follow-up or assistance by an NGO in the 3 months prior to the program. By 3 months, more than one third of the participants had been tested for HIV (35%) and 63% knew about PrEP. A total retention rate of 70% was reported in the cohort after 6 months. Conclusion: CHWs enabled to improve care access for migrant WSWs by improving the collaboration between care and social actors at a local level. Through these "bring-back-to" interventions for this hard-to-reach population, CHWs enabled an optimization of the care pathway. Our results also highlight the importance of a population-based approach for individual and group support of empowerment interventions in order to strengthen their capacity for action.

Effectiveness of a Community Empowerment Intervention to Improve Access to Pre-exposure Prophylaxis in Migrant Women Sex Workers: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Implementation Study.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization recommends pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for all populations at substantial risk of HIV infection. However, at-risk women very rarely use PrEP in France-this represents a critical issue among migrant women sex workers (MWSWs). Previous studies on PrEP use among women sex workers or migrants focused on individual or social determinants of motivation. However, operational studies in real-word settings using a holistic population approach to maximize PrEP adherence among MWSWs are lacking. OBJECTIVE: FASSETS (ie, "Favoriser l'Accès à la Santé Sexuelle des Travailleuses du Sexe"; English: "facilitate the access to Sexual Health in women sex workers") is a participative, multilevel, mixed methods study aiming to improve global knowledge of and access to sexual health care and PrEP among MWSWs through targeted empowerment strategies. METHODS: This study comprises several phases: (1) phase 1: an initial qualitative study combining semistructured interviews, informal interviews, and participative observations will be performed among MWSWs, local community nongovernmental organizations, and institutions providing sexual reproductive health services to identify the determinants of PrEP access among MWSWs and for respondent-driven sampling (RDS); (2) phase 2: the size of the hidden MWSW population is estimated in Marseille through capture-recapture (the RDS survey will serve as "recapture"); (3) phase 3: a longitudinal cohort will be formed through RDS to represent the MWSW population with a goal of 150 inclusions-this cohort will be followed up for 12 months, and sequential questionnaires exploring medical history; knowledge of sexual health, HIV, and sexually transmitted infections; migration route; and current living conditions will be administered at inclusion (month 0) and months 3, 6, and 12 to measure the following interventional phase's outcomes; and (4) phase 4: an interventional study with community empowerment actions about sexual health and PrEP will be conducted with community health workers; standardized questionnaires and semistructured interviews, observations, and focus groups will highlight MWSWs' experiences with empowerment resources, concerns about sexual health, and especially PrEP use or uptake, and we will evaluate whether and how community-adapted empowerment actions conducted by community health workers are effective in increasing access to sexual health, prevention and screening of sexually transmitted infections, and PrEP knowledge and access among MWSWs. RESULTS: Recruitment commenced on March 1, 2022. We estimate the follow-up period to end on September 30, 2023. CONCLUSIONS: This multiphase study will provide robust evidence about the magnitude of the MWSW population in Marseille (the second largest town in France) and their current conditions of living, access to and knowledge of sexual health, and PrEP access. Using a mixed methods analysis, we will investigate whether individual and collective community health empowerment approaches can facilitate access to PrEP and its initiation, use, and adherence in this vulnerable population. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/42844.