TY - JOUR
T1 - A Community-Based Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Telehealth Program Focused on Latinx Sexual Minority Men
AU - Andrade, Elí A.
AU - Betancourt, Gabriela
AU - Morales, Gustavo
AU - Zapata, Omar
AU - Marrero, Lissette
AU - Rivera, Sage
AU - Nieves, Eric
AU - Miranda, Carolina
AU - Diaz, Chanelle
AU - Beil, Robert
AU - Patel, Viraj V.
AU - Ross, Jonathan
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
PY - 2023/11/1
Y1 - 2023/11/1
N2 - Latinx sexual minority men (LSMM) face multilevel barriers to accessing HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). To address these barriers, we designed and implemented community-based organization (CBO)-PrEP, a collaborative community-based telehealth PrEP program for LSMM. We designed this PrEP delivery program through a collaborative process involving staff from local CBOs and a primary care-based HIV prevention program. Staff met weekly over a 3-month period to establish protocols for referrals, obtaining insurance coverage, and navigation to appointments and laboratory testing. To assess feasibility, we extracted electronic medical record data including demographics and clinical outcomes of PrEP care. Between December 2020 and May 2023, 102 individuals were referred to CBO-PrEP of which 85 had Hispanic/Latino as their ethnicity in their medical records; out of 102 individuals, 72 (70.6%) were scheduled for an initial appointment. Out of 72 individuals scheduled for an appointment, 58 (80.6%) were seen by a health care provider a median of 7.5 days after referral [interquartile range (IQR), 2–19]; 48 (82.6%) of initial appointments were through telemedicine, 10 (17.2%) were seen in person. Of the 48 patients who had a telehealth appointment, 36 (75%) underwent initial laboratory testing and 42 (87.5) were prescribed PrEP; all 10 patients who were seen in person underwent laboratory testing and were prescribed PrEP. PrEP prescriptions were received in a median of 17.5 days (IQR 4.5–33.5) after referral. CBO-PrEP successfully engaged LSMM, a population that is often hard to reach. Expanding collaborative approaches with CBOs could have a significant impact on improving PrEP uptake for LSMM and other priority populations.
AB - Latinx sexual minority men (LSMM) face multilevel barriers to accessing HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). To address these barriers, we designed and implemented community-based organization (CBO)-PrEP, a collaborative community-based telehealth PrEP program for LSMM. We designed this PrEP delivery program through a collaborative process involving staff from local CBOs and a primary care-based HIV prevention program. Staff met weekly over a 3-month period to establish protocols for referrals, obtaining insurance coverage, and navigation to appointments and laboratory testing. To assess feasibility, we extracted electronic medical record data including demographics and clinical outcomes of PrEP care. Between December 2020 and May 2023, 102 individuals were referred to CBO-PrEP of which 85 had Hispanic/Latino as their ethnicity in their medical records; out of 102 individuals, 72 (70.6%) were scheduled for an initial appointment. Out of 72 individuals scheduled for an appointment, 58 (80.6%) were seen by a health care provider a median of 7.5 days after referral [interquartile range (IQR), 2–19]; 48 (82.6%) of initial appointments were through telemedicine, 10 (17.2%) were seen in person. Of the 48 patients who had a telehealth appointment, 36 (75%) underwent initial laboratory testing and 42 (87.5) were prescribed PrEP; all 10 patients who were seen in person underwent laboratory testing and were prescribed PrEP. PrEP prescriptions were received in a median of 17.5 days (IQR 4.5–33.5) after referral. CBO-PrEP successfully engaged LSMM, a population that is often hard to reach. Expanding collaborative approaches with CBOs could have a significant impact on improving PrEP uptake for LSMM and other priority populations.
KW - Latino
KW - community-based organization
KW - implementation science
KW - men who have sex with men
KW - pre-exposure prophylaxis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85176881214&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85176881214&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1089/apc.2023.0185
DO - 10.1089/apc.2023.0185
M3 - Article
C2 - 37956241
AN - SCOPUS:85176881214
SN - 1087-2914
VL - 37
SP - 517
EP - 524
JO - AIDS Patient Care and STDs
JF - AIDS Patient Care and STDs
IS - 11
ER -