Partnering to Enhance Anal Health Communication and HIV-related Evidence-based Services
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Summary
This project will test ways to reduce stigma in healthcare settings so that more providers offer, and more patients receive, important anal sex-related HIV services, including anorectal sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing, preventive medications, and cancer screening. By evaluating these stigma-reduction strategies in eight clinics in the Mississippi Delta, a region with high rates of HIV and STIs, the research team will learn whether and how these approaches work to improve access to care. The results will help guide healthcare systems in using the most effective methods to reduce stigma, making it easier for people to get prevention services and improving public health.
Description
This project aims to determine whether scaling PEACHES 2.0, a package of multi-level, multi-component implementation strategies to address anal sex stigma within health services can increase provider adoption and patient uptake of four anal sex-related HIV services (ASHS). These services - anorectal STI testing, HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), Doxy-PEP (gonorrhea and chlamydia doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis), and anal cancer screening - are endorsed by federal, state and professional organizations as standard-of-care and would effectively accelerate an end to the HIV epidemic, if i…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18+ years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria: Staff participants ("Strategy Recipients" and "Strategy Recipients") * employed at one of eight Coastal Family Health Center clinics at the time of the survey * over age 18 years old Patient participants ("Patients") * accessing sexual health services at one of eight Coastal Family Health Center clinics in the last 12 months * over 18 years old Exclusion Criteria: * Staff or patients who are unable to provide informed consent (e.g., significant cognitive impairment) * Individuals currently incarcerated or in state custody * Patients whose only visits are for non-HIV,…
Interventions
- BehavioralPEACHES 2.0 Implementation Strategies
PEACHES 2.0 is a set of training and quality improvement implementation strategies to increase provider adoption and patient uptake of evidence-based anal sex-related HIV interventions: anorectal STI screening, Doxy-PEP, PrEP, and anal cancer screening.
Location
- Coastal Family Health CenterBiloxi, Mississippi