Homeless individuals face many barriers to the receipt of medical care. Combine homelessness with being HIV positive and the barriers to care are compounded many fold. This study examines the factors affecting the receipt of medical care for all HIV positive, homeless individuals (N=4217) receiving medical and/or social support services at Ryan White CARE Act-funded providers in three states and five cities. The CARE Act provides medical and support services to low-income, uninsured and underinsured individuals infected and affected with HIV/AIDS. Measures examined include client demographic characteristics, health status as measured by an AIDS diagnosis, and the receipt of each CARE Act-funded service. Logistic regression techniques are used to identify predictors of the receipt of medical care. Results indicate that homeless Hispanics are 2.5 times more likely to receive medical care at a CARE Act-funded provider than Non-Hispanic Whites. Individuals with public or no insurance coverage were twice as likely to receive medical care as homeless individuals with private insurance. Homeless individuals whose usual place to receive HIV-related medical care was a public clinic were half as likely to receive medical care at a CARE Act-funded provider as individuals who usually received care at a private doctor's office. Receipt of mental health counseling, substance abuse counseling/treatment, and other types of counseling all increased the likelihood of the receipt of medical care at a CARE Act-funded provider. Further analyses will examine the interactions between services to see which combinations of services are more predictive of the receipt of medical care.
Learning Objectives: 1. Articulate the barriers to care faced by HIV+ homeless individuals. 2. List the factors that predict receipt of medical care for HIV+ homeless individuals receiving care at Ryan White CARE Act-funded providers. 3. Describe the overall purpose of the Ryan White CARE Act and discuss ways that the CARE Act is benefitting homeless individuals
Keywords: Homelessness, HIV/AIDS
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.