The following stigma-related interventions were conducted in this state.
Community Health Worker curriculum intervention by Rajabiun et al. (2021)
Study & Intervention Summary
The intervention involves a comprehensive training program for Community Health Workers (CHWs) and their supervisors, focusing on HIV-specific content and core competency training. The program was grounded in the Popular Education model and the CHW Core Consensus Competency (C3) framework, with 80 hours of training for CHWs and 20 hours for supervisors, delivered over 1.5 years through in-person and virtual sessions. The aim was to improve CHW integration into the HIV care team, enhance skills and confidence, and improve health outcomes for people with HIV.
The intervention, Connect to Protect (C2P), aims to advance structural changes to reduce adolescents' risk of HIV exposure by improving access to health information, condoms, and HIV testing. It involves community coalitions led by adolescent medicine clinical units and technical support staff, with objectives such as eliminating parental consent requirements for HIV testing, increasing access to adolescent-friendly HIV testing, and creating safe zones for at-risk adolescents. The intervention assesses the impact of these changes on health behaviors through annual data collection from adolescents over a 4 to 5 year period.
Connect-to-Protect (C2P) (individual health behavior outcomes)
Study & Intervention Summary
The Connect-to-Protect (C2P) intervention is a 10-year community mobilization effort aimed at creating structural changes to reduce HIV exposure among at-risk youth. It involves establishing coalitions that select and implement structural change objectives to improve the local risk environment for targeted youth populations. The intervention targets local policies, practices, and resource availability to reduce risk among youth, focusing on populations such as YMSM, injecting drug users, and high-risk young women of color. The evaluation used an observational study design due to the impracticality of a randomized controlled trial.
The Five Point Initiative is a community-informed bundled implementation strategy aimed at addressing HIV in Black communities in Miami, Florida. It involves partnering with community businesses and health organizations to conduct outreach events where participants receive HIV testing, PrEP information, and condoms in exchange for completing surveys, with the goal of increasing access to HIV prevention tools and education.
Stigma Type Addressed
Structural
Study Population - Recipients
General (Everyone)
Intervention Level
Community
Intervention Setting Addressed
Community (Faith-based organizations, barber shops, etc)
HIV/STD-focused motion comic intervention by Willis et al. (2018)
Study & Intervention Summary
The study evaluated the effectiveness of a six-episode motion comic series in improving HIV/STD-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behavioral intentions among young people aged 15-24. The intervention aimed to reduce HIV/STD risk by delivering health messages through engaging narratives and characters. It was developed through focus groups and used an 80% to 20% entertainment-to-education ratio. The study found significant improvements in HIV stigma reduction, HIV knowledge increase, and behavioral intentions to engage in safe sex.
The study aims to investigate the feasibility of an mHealth intervention for improving treatment adherence among women living with HIV. The intervention includes health reminders and psychoeducational messaging to address HIV stigma, medical mistrust, and enhance resilience. The control group receives standard care reminders, while the experimental group receives the mHealth intervention plus standard care reminders. The primary outcome is feasibility and acceptability, with secondary outcomes focusing on changes in medication adherence, depression symptoms, HIV stigma, medical mistrust, resilience, clinic attendance, and viral suppression.
The article describes the Project ACCEPT intervention, a group-based behavioral program aimed at reducing HIV-related stigma in adolescents and young adults newly diagnosed with HIV. The intervention provides HIV/AIDS-related information, coping skills, and social support, guided by the Disability-Stress-Coping model and Social Cognitive Theory. It targets four dimensions of stigma: personalized stigma, disclosure concerns, negative self-image, and concern with public attitudes. The intervention was effective in reducing stigma for male participants but had mixed results for female participants, indicating a need for gender-specific interventions.
Project Adolescents Coping, Connecting, Empowering, and Protecting Together (ACCEPT) (intervention effect on HIV engagement outcomes)
Study & Intervention Summary
The ACCEPT intervention is a gender-specific, group-based program aimed at improving engagement in care for youth newly diagnosed with HIV by addressing stigma, disclosure, relationships, substance use, and future planning. It is based on theoretical models and includes individual and group sessions. The study compares ACCEPT to a health education control condition, showing positive health outcomes such as increased medication use and lower viral loads.
The SPARK! program is a small grants and capacity-building initiative funded by Gilead COMPASS to address HIV-related stigma in the Southern U.S. It provided grants to 47 CBOs to implement tailored stigma-reduction programs, including traditional media campaigns, social media campaigns, workshops and trainings, and supportive services. The program targeted primarily LGBTQ+ people of color, people living with HIV, and African American populations, and was implemented from 2018 to 2021 across nine Southern states. The aim was to reduce HIV-related stigma and achieve positive outcomes with small funding amounts.
Stigma Type Addressed
Perceived
Study Population - Recipients
General (PLHIV), Other
Intervention Level
Individual - Intrapersonal (Self), Community
Intervention Setting Addressed
Community (Faith-based organizations, barber shops, etc), Individual
The Gilead COMPASS (COMmitment to Partnership in Addressing HIV/AIDS in Southern States) Initiative
Study & Intervention Summary
The study examines the practices of community-based organizations (CBOs) in addressing HIV-related stigma in the Deep South. The Gilead COMPASS Initiative is a key intervention supporting CBOs to reduce stigma. The study identifies gaps in current efforts and suggests scaling up services, particularly in rural areas, through collaborations and innovative delivery methods like telehealth and mHealth.
The YOUNITY Workshop is an adapted intervention from the UNITY Workshop, designed to reduce HIV-related stigma among individuals living with HIV in the Deep South. It is conducted in an experiential group format, focusing on enhancing stigma coping skills, and is led by peer facilitators and a clinical social worker. The intervention was piloted at four community-based organizations, showing feasibility and acceptability. It includes new content on stigma, coping, and disclosure, and is designed to provide ongoing support for participants.
As of 2025, Yes: Florida has a HIV criminalization law and sentencing enhancements or sex offender registration (or both) or HIV criminalization law only
HATE CRIME DATA COLLECTION LAW
yes
As of 2025, Yes: Florida requires hate crime data collection
HATE CRIMES BY YEAR
Number of Hate Crimes
0
100
200
300
1
161
249
2021
2022
2023
Years
Data view:
Individual Item
Proportion
Have you ever felt that the police refused to protect you because you have sex with men?
12%
Have you ever felt scared to be in public places because you have sex with men?
37%
Have you ever been verbally harassed and felt it was because you have sex with men?
47%
Has someone ever physically hurt you (pushed, shoved, slapped, hit, kicked, choked or otherwise physically hurt you), and do you believe any of these experiences of physical violence was/were related to the fact that you have sex with men?
40%
Have you ever been forced to have sex when you did not want to (by forced, we mean physically forced or coerced to have sex, or penetrated with an object), and do you believe any of these experiences of sexual violence were related to the fact that you have sex with men?
33%
Individual Item
Proportion
Have you ever felt excluded from family activities because you have sex with men?
31%
Have you ever felt that family members have made discriminatory remarks or gossiped about you because you have sex with men?
48%
Individual Item
Proportion
Have you ever felt afraid to go to health care services because you worry someone may treat you poorly because you have sex with men?
24%
Have you ever avoided going to health care services because you worry someone may treat you poorly because you have sex with men?
19%
12.1%
Have you ever felt that the police refused to protect you because you have sex with men?
36.8%
Have you ever felt scared to be in public places because you have sex with men?
47%
Have you ever been verbally harassed and felt it was because you have sex with men?
40.3%
Has someone ever physically hurt you (pushed, shoved, slapped, hit, kicked, choked or otherwise physically hurt you), and do you believe any of these experiences of physical violence was/were related to the fact that you have sex with men?
32.6%
Have you ever been forced to have sex when you did not want to (by forced, we mean physically forced or coerced to have sex, or penetrated with an object), and do you believe any of these experiences of sexual violence were related to the fact that you have sex with men?
31%
Have you ever felt excluded from family activities because you have sex with men?
48.1%
Have you ever felt that family members have made discriminatory remarks or gossiped about you because you have sex with men?
24.3%
Have you ever felt afraid to go to health care services because you worry someone may treat you poorly because you have sex with men?
19.2%
Have you ever avoided going to health care services because you worry someone may treat you poorly because you have sex with men?
