Abstract
Stigmas associated with STIs often produce screening obstacles that interfere with proper care. This was especially true during the COVID pandemic. Howard University recently participated in a three-year SPNS (Special Projects of National Significance) study (2018-2021) that sought to implement needs-based training, clinical, and non-clinical interventions. The hope was that the interventions would improve screening, testing, and treatment of common bacterial STIs among people with HIV or at risk for HIV who are served by HRSA’s Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) and/or Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) funded clinics or health centers. Howard University was one of nine clinical demonstration sites in three United States (U.S.) jurisdictions, Florida, Louisiana, and Washington, D.C., selected to participate in this pilot demonstration project because of higher than national average incidences of GC, CT, syphilis, and HIV. Ethnic, gender and racial stigmas, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, generated significant issues related to the deployment of the interventions. This paper employs qualitative and quantitative data and assessments to highlight the challenges facing the DC convener site, Howard University, and details the solutions that the administrators and clinicians created to address and overcome these concerns.
Presenters
Michael PeriniDirector of Research, Evaluation, & Quality Assurance, Quality Assurance, Northern Virginia Family Service, Virginia, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Public Health Policies and Practices
KEYWORDS
STI, Stigma, Infectious Disease, Disease Prevention, Race, Gender, Ethnicity
