Integrated family planning: An intervention designed to increase integrated HIV testing in family planning clinics

Background: The majority of publicly funded family planning clinics in the United States offer HIV testing services, however, few offer integrated testing. Integrated family planning occurs when a rapid HIV test is offered to all clients. Methods: Health Care Education and Training, Inc. (HCET), a non-profit organization based in Indiana, received federal funding to increase the number of integrated family planning clinics in Region V. HCET partnered with Planned Parenthood of Indiana (PPIN) to develop a “model clinic” intervention to increase the number of clinics that offer integrated testing. Intervention activities consisted of the development of a PPIN HIV trainer, clinical trainings and quality assurance visits to observe clinical delivery of prevention education, HIV testing, counseling, and referrals. Qualitative and quantitative pre-post evaluation data were collected to assess clinical changes in integrated family planning. Results: In 2005, 6 of 35 PPIN sites offered testing services and in 2009 34 of 35 sites offered integrated services. Protocols for HIV testing were developed and adopted by 34 sites, which includes HIV as part of their quality assurance plan. By 2008 alone, 6,579 HIV tests had been conducted. Qualitative evaluation data indicated that as a result of the intervention, PPIN clinicians better understood the importance of offering testing to all clients, felt prepared and comfortable with testing and counseling and, as a result, felt clinic patient flow improved. Conclusions: This “model clinic” intervention was successful at integrating HIV into PPIN clinic services and should serve as a model for other family planning clinics.