Chicago House and Social Service Agency has been awarded a comprehensive five-year, $3.8 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] to deliver HIV prevention and treatment strategies for both persons with HIV/AIDS and individuals at the greatest risk for infection.
The initiative, named the Targeted HIV Testing and Enhanced Connect2Care Project, aims at reducing new infections with strategies such as HIV testing; engaging HIV-positive people in ongoing care; facilitating access for at-risk individuals to interventions such as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis [PrEP] and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis [PEP], high-impact behavioral interventions, and screenings for sexually transmitted infections; and delivering condoms to high-risk and HIV-positive individuals.
Chicago House CEO Stan Sloan said that the project takes advantage of recent developments to keep at-risk individuals on a continuum of care and prevention, even if they initially are tested for HIV and get a negative result.
"What we had before was kind of like 'catch and release,'" Sloan explained. "People would come in and be tested, then test negative, and that was that. We'd often see them again, providing services to them, if they'd later test positive. Now, we will be more 'catch and treat.' If they test negative, we can guide them to resources to help them stay that way."
Chicago House will be the lead agency on the new project, in conjunction with Sinai Health System, Erie Family Health Centers and Center on Halsted.
"One of the most unique aspects is that we'll have a truly mobile testing van," Sloan added. "It's like a travelling living room. We'll be able to use apps like Grindr, Scruff and Jack'd to determine where people are and go out to communities that are at risk."
According to projections, the initiative will annually deliver targeted HIV testing to 533 high-risk individuals, including 300 men who have sex with men [MSM] and 100 transgender women; refer 100 percent of high-risk MSM and transgender women to sexually transmitted infection screening; provide linkage to care services to 200 HIV-positive individuals; provide intensive patient navigation services to 125 HIV-positive individuals; deliver the risk-reduction counselling to 127 individuals; refer 360 high-risk HIV-negative [HRN] persons to PrEP or PEP resources; provide intensive patient navigation services to 125 HRN persons; and offer condoms to 100 percent of HIV-positive and HRN project participants.
"In terms of HIV/AIDS, the last two years have been more eventful than the previous decade," Sloan said. "This is a five-year grant, so who knows what the landscape is going to look like, and how much progress can be made, in the years ahead."
