Mentored Scientist Award

Women living with HIV (WWH) experience more menopausal symptoms than women without HIV and are more likely to experience differences that make these symptoms difficult to manage. Among WWH, Black women are especially affected by menopausal symptoms. However, Black WWH are less likely than non-Black WWH to use effective pharmacological treatments to reduce symptom severity. Music therapy has potential to help Black WWH manage menopausal symptoms without the use of pharmaceuticals, but has not been tested in this population. Responsive to the priorities “Shifting to solution-oriented approaches in health disparities research” and “Implementing advances in HIV/AIDS research” from the August 2025 NIH Director’s Unified Strategy, this study will assess feasibility and acceptability of a music therapy intervention for menopause symptom management among Black WWH. We will collect data through N=20 in-depth interviews with Black WWH enrolled in the San Francisco Bay Area site of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS)/Women's Interagency HIV Study (WIHS) Combined Cohort Study (MWCCS) and N=4 focus groups with Black WWH recruited through the MWCCS, the Ward 86 HIV clinic at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and the Women’s HIV Program at UCSF Health. Findings will generate the preliminary feasibility, acceptability, and implementation data needed to support an R01 to test an integrated, multi-level intervention to improve quality of care for menopausal WWH.