1023- South Africa- Tlogela: Costs of smoking cessation interventions for people living with HIV in South Africa

People with HIV who smoke have little access to resources to help them quit, and smoking cessation interventions are needed that can be scaled within existing HIV care infrastructure. We are conducting a factorial optimization trial to evaluate how smoking cessation strategies known to work in other populations may support people with HIV in South Africa to quit smoking through the existing infrastructure of routine HIV care. We are assessing the ability of these smoking cessation interventions to help people with HIV quit, as well as how feasible, acceptable, and cost-effective they are in this setting to inform ways to bring the program to scale. Specifically, this GHEFP placement would support costing and economic evaluation of the smoking cessation interventions. We are measuring and comparing costs of each intervention (16 in total) at the patient-level from the societal perspective, including costs related to implementation, service delivery, patient out-of-pocket expenses.

The fellow will be expected to collaborate with site partners and staff to obtain and enter data from project budgets and financial expenditure reports, support the adaptation, testing, and delivery of cost data collection tools, support or conduct data collection activities under the technical and managerial supervision of the JHU/PHRU study team (specifically, time-and-motion data collection), help develop/adapt cost data entry excel-based forms, and conduct data entry and analysis.

A productive academic clinical research center and HIV treatment clinic.

Interested in smoking cessation and HIV-related services, costing and economic evaluation, implementation research, and collaborating with a large, experienced research team on a complex factorial trial.

Basic quantitative analysis skills, experience with qualitative research (observation, note-taking, interviewing), and proficiency with Excel. Experience with R or other statistical packages and prior exposure to economics and costing or accounting welcome.

Individuals with prior experience in South Africa are encouraged to apply.

Name: Christopher Kemp, Department of International Health, ckemp11@jhu.edu

I would describe my communication and mentorship styles as... 

Honest and clear, with the aim of fostering independence and confidence, while actively identifying areas where mentees need additional support or compassion.

A complementary student would have a working style and mentorship expectations that are..

Self-motivated, humble, detail-oriented, and kind, expecting mentorship that is supportive and encouraging.

Cost of housing and food will be provided. 

An additional stipend is available.