Transgender Latinas' Perspectives on HIV PrEP Uptake, Condom Use, and Medically Supervised Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy: Insights From ChiCAS Qualitative Interviews.

There is a dearth of HIV prevention behavioral interventions for transgender Latinas, despite this population's HIV risk. ChiCAS (Chicas Creando Acceso a la Salud) is an intervention to increase PrEP, condom, and gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) use among transgender Latinas. To inform future work, semistructured interviews were conducted postintervention with 28 ChiCAS participants.

The Role of Stigma and Resilience in Healthcare Engagement Among Transgender Latinas in the U.S. South: Baseline Findings from the ChiCAS Study.

Research demonstrates that stigma and resilience influence transgender peoples' healthcare use. Less is known about transgender Latinas in the U.S.

Cost Analysis of the Positive Health Check Intervention to Suppress HIV Viral Load and Retain Patients in HIV Clinical Care.

Context: Digital video-based behavioral interventions are effective tools for improving HIV care and treatment outcomes.

Objective: To assess the costs of the Positive Health Check (PHC) intervention delivered in HIV primary care settings.

Design, Setting, And Intervention: The PHC study was a randomized trial evaluating the effectiveness of a highly tailored, interactive video-counseling intervention delivered in 4 HIV care clinics in the United States in improving viral suppression and retention in care.

Adapting a Group-Level PrEP Promotion Intervention Trial for Transgender Latinas During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected the conduct of community-based and community-engaged research. Prior to the pandemic, our community-based participatory research partnership was testing ChiCAS, an in-person, group-level behavioral intervention designed to promote uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), condom use, and medically supervised gender-affirming hormone therapy among Spanish-speaking transgender Latinas. However, the pandemic required adaptations to ensure the safe conduct of the ChiCAS intervention trial.

Effectiveness of an Interactive, Highly Tailored "Video Doctor" Intervention to Suppress Viral Load and Retain Patients With HIV in Clinical Care: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: To determine whether Positive Health Check, a highly tailored video doctor intervention, can improve viral suppression and retention in care.

Setting: Four clinics that deliver HIV primary care.

Methods: A hybrid type 1 effectiveness-implementation randomized trial design was used to test study hypotheses.

Reducing Homelessness among Persons with HIV: An Ecological Case Study in Delaware.

Introduction: Among persons with HIV (PWH), homelessness is associated with poorer health. From 2009-2014, national HIV prevention goals included a reduction in homelessness among PWH. We sought to examine social ecological factors associated with homelessness among PWH at a sub-national level during that period.

Positive Health Check intervention tool usage during a feasibility pilot in HIV primary care clinics.

Positive Health Check (PHC), an interactive, web-based intervention, provides tailored behavioral health messages to support people with HIV in their HIV care. Users interact with a virtual doctor and based on responses to tailoring questions, PHC delivers relevant content modules addressing treatment initiation, medication adherence, retention in care, sexual risk reduction, mother-to-child transmission, and injection drug use. During a one-month feasibility pilot of PHC, patients in four HIV primary care clinics were invited to use PHC and tool usage metrics were collected and assessed.

A Longitudinal Mixed-Methods Examination of Positive Health Check: Implementation Results From a Type 1 Effectiveness-Implementation Hybrid Trial.

Background: Positive Health Check is an evidence-based video doctor intervention developed for improving the medication adherence, retention in care, and viral load suppression of people with HIV receiving clinical care.

Setting: Four HIV primary care clinics within the United States.

Methods: As part of a type 1 hybrid trial, a mixed-methods approach was used to longitudinally assess the following 3 key implementation constructs over a 23-month period: innovation-values fit (ie, the extent to which staff perceive innovation use will foster the fulfillment of their values), organizational readiness for change (ie, the extent to which organizational members are psychologically and behaviorally prepared to implement organizational change), and implementation climate (ie, the extent to which implementation is expected, supported, and rewarded).

HIV Testing Program Activities and Challenges in Four U.S. Urban Areas.

The national "Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America" supports expanded testing in jurisdictions and groups with disproportionate HIV burden. Public health planners benefit from learning HIV testing service (HTS) strengths, challenges, and innovations. We conducted semistructured interviews with 120 HTS staff from local health departments, community-based organizations, and community members in Houston, Texas; Miami, Florida; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Washington, DC.

Evaluating Locally Developed Interventions to Promote PrEP Among Racially/Ethnically Diverse Transgender Women in the United States: A Unique CDC Initiative.

In the United States, transgender women are disproportionately affected by HIV. However, few evidence-based prevention interventions exist for this key population. We describe two promising, locally developed interventions that are currently being implemented and evaluated through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Combination HIV Prevention for Transgender Women Project: (a) ChiCAS, designed to promote the uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), condom use, and medically supervised hormone therapy among Spanish-speaking transgender Latinas, and (b) TransLife Care, designed to address the structural drivers of HIV risk through access to housing, employment, legal services, and medical services, including HIV preventive care (e.

STEPS to Care: Translating an Evidence-Informed HIV Care Coordination Program Into a Field-Tested Online Practice Improvement Toolkit.

Increasing care engagement is essential to meet HIV prevention goals and achieve viral suppression. It is difficult, however, for agencies to establish the systems and practice improvements required to ensure coordinated care, especially for clients with complex health needs. We describe the theory-driven, field-informed transfer process used to translate key components of the evidence-informed Ryan White Part A New York City Care Coordination Program into an online practice improvement toolkit, STEPS to Care (StC), with the potential to support broader dissemination.

Tracking linkage to care in an anonymous HIV testing context: A field assessment in Mozambique.

Rationale: Effective human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention requires a coordinated continuum of services to foster early diagnosis and treatment. Early linkage to care (LTC) is critical, yet programmes differ in strategies to monitor LTC.

Methods: In 2014, we visited 23 HIV testing and care service delivery points in Mozambique to assess programme strategies for monitoring LTC.

Increasing partner HIV testing and linkage to care in TB settings: findings from an implementation study in Pwani, Tanzania.

Couples HIV testing for tuberculosis (TB) patients and their partners may be an effective means to identify HIV-positive persons and strengthen linkage to HIV care. We evaluated an intervention to increase HIV testing and linkage to care (LTC) of newly diagnosed persons and re-linkage for TB/HIV patients in Pwani, Tanzania. In 2014, 12 TB settings within two regional clusters participated; each cluster included ≥1 referral hospital, health center, and directly observed therapy center.

Building Capacity for Data-Driven Decision Making in African HIV Testing Programs: Field Perspectives on Data Use Workshops.

Strategic, high quality HIV testing services (HTS) delivery is an essential step towards reaching the end of AIDS by 2030. We conducted HTS Data Use workshops in five African countries to increase data use for strategic program decision-making. Feedback was collected on the extent to which workshop skills and tools were applied in practice and to identify future capacity-building needs.

Reporting and case management of occupational exposures to blood-borne pathogens among healthcare workers in three healthcare facilities in Tanzania.

Background: In sub-Saharan Africa, blood-borne pathogens exposure (BPE) is a serious risk to healthcare workers (HCW).

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study assessing BPE among HCW at three public hospitals in Tanzania. From August to November 2012, HCW were surveyed using Audio-Computer Assisted Self-Interview.

Occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens among health care workers in Botswana: Reporting and utilization of postexposure prophylaxis.

Background: This study assessed reporting behavior and satisfaction with postexposure prophylaxis (PEP) systems among health care workers (HCWs) at risk for occupational bloodborne pathogen exposure (BPE) in 3 public hospitals in Botswana.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey among HCWs provided information on perceptions, attitudes, and experiences with occupational exposures, reporting, and postexposure care. HCWs potentially in contact with blood or body fluids were surveyed using audio computer-assisted self-interview.

Shifting Resources and Focus to Meet the Goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy: The Enhanced Comprehensive HIV Prevention Planning Project, 2010-2013.

In September 2010, CDC launched the Enhanced Comprehensive HIV Prevention Planning (ECHPP) project to shift HIV-related activities to meet goals of the 2010 National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS). Twelve health departments in cities with high AIDS burden participated. These 12 grantees submitted plans detailing jurisdiction-level goals, strategies, and objectives for HIV prevention and care activities.

Addressing poverty and HIV using microenterprise: findings from qualitative research to reduce risk among unemployed or underemployed African American women.

Introduction: Microenterprise programs are widely used to improve health outcomes among women internationally. However, there is little information on applicability to American women living in poverty. We conducted formative research to identify activities that are viable and attractive, that may produce income to address some proportion of economic need and could be incorporated in the development of a micro-enterprise HIV-prevention intervention to reduce HIV/STD transmission among unemployed or underemployed African American women at risk for HIV.

The experiences, needs, and Internet use of women recently diagnosed with HIV.

Women constitute an increasing proportion of persons diagnosed with HIV in the United States. From September 2007 through June 2008, in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 women diagnosed with HIV in the previous 12 months to explore their experiences immediately following their diagnoses. Most women had at least a high school education (90%) and were African American (45%) or Hispanic (15%).

The Treatment Advocacy Program: a randomized controlled trial of a peer-led safer sex intervention for HIV-infected men who have sex with men.

Objective: Primary care may be an effective venue for delivering behavioral interventions for sexual safety among HIV-positive men who have sex with men (MSM); however, few studies show efficacy for such an approach. We tested the efficacy of the Treatment Advocacy Program (TAP), a 4-session, primary-care-based, individual counseling intervention led by HIV-positive MSM "peer advocates" in reducing unprotected sex with HIV-negative or unknown partners (HIV transmission risk).

Method: We randomized 313 HIV-positive MSM to TAP or standard care.

HIV intervention for providers study: a randomized controlled trial of a clinician-delivered HIV risk-reduction intervention for HIV-positive people.

Clinician-delivered prevention interventions offer an opportunity to integrate risk-reduction counseling as a routine part of medical care. The HIV Intervention for Providers study, a randomized controlled trial, developed and tested a medical provider HIV prevention training intervention in 4 northern California HIV care clinics. Providers were assigned to either the intervention or control condition (usual care).