The Effect of Patient Navigation on the Likelihood of Engagement in Clinical Care for HIV-Infected Individuals Leaving Jail.

Objectives: To compare the effectiveness of patient navigation-enhanced case management in supporting engagement in HIV care upon release from jail relative to existing services.

Methods: We randomized 270 HIV-infected individuals to receive navigation-enhanced case management for 12 months or standard case management for 90 days following release from jail between 2010 and 2013. Participants were interviewed at 2, 6, and 12 months after release.

Patient navigation facilitates medical and social services engagement among HIV-infected individuals leaving jail and returning to the community.

HIV-infected individuals leaving jails, facilities typically used to confine accused persons awaiting trial or to incarcerate persons for minor offenses, often face barriers to engagement with medical and social-support services. Patient navigation is a model that may ease these barriers by supporting individuals in negotiating fragmented and highly bureaucratic systems for services and care. While there is evidence linking navigation to a reduction in health disparities, little is known about the mechanisms by which the model works.