The HERS+ Intensive Outpatient Program: Promising Substance Use Intervention in Primary Care for Black Women With HIV

As part of the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Black Women First Initiative, the University of California, San Francisco, Women’s HIV Program implemented the Health, Empowerment, and Recovery Services Plus (HERS+) intensive outpatient program (IOP)—an adapted version of the Matrix Model of IOP—to address substance use among Black women with HIV in a trauma-informed primary care setting. The intervention’s promise was reflected in decreases in recent use of methamphetamine and tobacco; reduced methamphetamine, cannabis, and tobacco involvement; and an increase in social support. ( Am J Public Health. 2025;115(S1):S13–S17. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307842 )