Continuous care engagement in clinical practice: perspectives on selected current strategies for people with HIV in the United States.

Introduction: Modern antiretroviral therapy is associated with reduced rates of HIV-related morbidity and mortality. HIV viral suppression and retention in care are critically important outcomes requiring successful continuous patient engagement. However, barriers to such engagement are complex and require innovative solutions.

Transitional community adherence support for people leaving incarceration in South Africa: a pragmatic, open-label, randomised controlled trial.

Background: People released from correctional facilities face multifactorial barriers to continuing HIV treatment. We hypothesised that barriers faced in the first 6 months of community re-entry would be decreased by a multilevel group-based and peer-led intervention, the Transitional Community Adherence Club (TCAC).

Methods: We did a pragmatic, open-label, individually randomised controlled trial in five correctional facilities in Gauteng, South Africa.

Adapting and Implementing an Evidence-Based Reentry Intervention for Incarcerated Transgender Women: Lessons Learned.

Incarceration is a significant public health issue that disproportionately impacts transgender (trans) women, particularly those of color. The cycle of incarceration interacts with high levels of substance use, mental illness, and HIV to produce a high disease burden among trans women, but, to date, there are no published studies of trans-specific reentry support interventions. Informed by the Model of Gender Affirmation, we systematically adapted and pilot tested the evidence-based Project START intervention to create Girlfriends Connect (GC), a reentry support intervention for trans women incarcerated in a county jail.

Interventions to Improve HIV Care Continuum Outcomes Among Individuals Released From Prison or Jail: Systematic Literature Review.

Background: HIV care continuum outcomes deteriorate among people returning from incarceration. Interventions to improve care outcomes postincarceration have been characterized by substantial heterogeneity in approach, outcome metrics, and results. A large number of recently published interventions have not been systematically reviewed.

Making the Connection: Using Videoconferencing to Increase Linkage to Care for Incarcerated Persons Living with HIV Post-release.

Incarcerated persons living with HIV (PLWH) have relatively high levels of HIV care engagement and antiretroviral therapy adherence during incarceration, but few are able to maintain these levels upon reentry into the community. In Louisiana, PLWH nearing release from prisons were offered video conferences with case managers housed in community based organizations aimed at facilitating linkage to care in the community. Of the 144 persons who received a video conference during the study period, 74.

Positive Transitions (POST): Evaluation of an HIV Prevention Intervention for HIV-Positive Persons Releasing from Correctional Facilities.

People with HIV who are released from custody frequently do not maintain the viral suppression and other health benefits achieved while incarcerated. This study was conducted to provide preliminary evidence of efficacy of an intervention to reduce HIV risk behaviors and increase use of HIV medical services following release from custody. People with HIV were recruited from San Francisco County jails, San Quentin State Prison and the California Medical Facility (Vacaville, CA), and randomly assigned to the "standard of care" or POST intervention.

Health status, sexual and drug risk, and psychosocial factors relevant to postrelease planning for HIV+ prisoners.

The prevalence of HIV infection among male prison inmates is significantly higher than in the U.S. population.

An ecosystem-based intervention to reduce HIV transmission risk and increase medication adherence among inmates being released to the community.

HIV+ inmates reentering their communities are at increased risk for poor health outcomes and for transmitting HIV. This article reports on a randomized trial comparing an ecosystem-based intervention and an individually focused intervention for reducing HIV transmission risk and improving medication adherence. Reincarceration was considered as a secondary variable.

Peer health education in Haiti's National Penitentiary: the "Health through Walls" experience.

This field report describes Health through Wall's experience working in the largest men's prison in Haiti. Though there have been many reports of prison peer health education programs, this field report further describes how peers can increase the (self-reported) interest and uptake of HIV testing. More than 400 anonymous surveys were collected.

HIV testing and treatment with correctional populations: people, not prisoners.

Institutional policies, practices, and norms can impede the delivery of ethical standard-of-care treatment for people with HIV in correctional settings. In this commentary, we focus on the fundamental issues that must be addressed to create an ethical environment in which best medical practices can be implemented when working with correctional populations. Thus, we consider ethical issues related to access to services, patient privacy, confidentiality, informed consent for testing and treatment, and issues related to the provision of services in an institutional setting in which maintenance of security is the primary mission.

Get Connected: an HIV prevention case management program for men and women leaving California prisons.

Individuals leaving prison face challenges to establishing healthy lives in the community, including opportunities to engage in behavior that puts them at risk for HIV transmission. HIV prevention case management (PCM) can facilitate linkages to services, which in turn can help remove barriers to healthy behavior. As part of a federally funded demonstration project, the community-based organization Centerforce provided 5 months of PCM to individuals leaving 3 state prisons in California.

Predictors of risky sex of young men after release from prison.

A longitudinal study of demographic and behavioural characteristics associated with risky sexual behaviours of young men after release from prison. One hundred and six men were interviewed in prison and at one week and six months after release. Overall, 37% reported a previous sexually transmitted disease (STD) diagnosis.