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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Chandra Sivakumar, MPH, MSW, HIV Prevention, Larkin Street Youth Services, 1138 Sutter St, San Francisco, CA 94109, 415-749-6969, chandras@larkinstreetyouth.org, Dina Wilderson, PhD, Research, Evaluation, and Technology, Larkin Street Youth Services, 1138 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94109, and Sherilyn Adams, LCSW, Administration, Larkin Street Youth Services, 1138 Sutter St, San Francisco, CA 94109.

Issues:

Youth under age 25 account for half of new HIV infections in the U.S. and homeless youth have disproportionately high rates of HIV infection. It is estimated that nationally 4% of homeless youth are HIV-positive but in San Francisco the rate is estimated to be twice as high.

Estimates are that 20%-25% of individuals are not aware of their HIV-status, it is expected that this percentage would be higher among homeless youth who have limited access to testing services. Rapid testing removes the failure to return barrier to homeless youth learning their status.

Description:

Testing is a major component of the HIV Prevention Program. Street-based outreach provides initial contact with youth, referrals to testing, and linkages to additional services. Testing is provided at the medical clinic, which is operated jointly with San Francisco's Department of Public Health. Youth who test positive are linked to medical care and housing. In addition, individual and group HIV prevention activities are conducted at all program sites.

Lessons Learned:

Rapid testing quickly provides youth with test results which significantly changes the testing experience for both the tester and the youth. Successful integration of rapid testing into a HIV Prevention program for homeless youth requires extensive staff training, on-going supervision, and development of a sound quality assurance plan. In additional linkages to care and housing is essential.

Next steps include expanding testing hours and determining the feasibility of integrating testing into street outreach activities.

Learning Objectives: By the end of the presentation participants will be able to

• Identify key components to the successful integration of HIV rapid testing into a HIV Prevention program
• Discuss potential obstacles to implementing a rapid testing program for high-risk youth.
• Discuss the elements of a Quality Assurance Plan for rapid testing.

Keywords: Youth, HIV/AIDS

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation