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Publication Profiles

Reaching and Re-Engaging People Living with HIV Who Are Out of Care: A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Patient Preferences for Strategies to Enhance Clinic Communication and Outreach

Citation

Nedell ER, Fletcher MR, Jones MD, et al. Reaching and Re-Engaging People Living with HIV Who Are Out of Care: A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Patient Preferences for Strategies to Enhance Clinic Communication and Outreach. AIDS Patient Care STDS. 2023;37(2):95-102. doi:10.1089/apc.2022.0193

Implementation stage:

Pre-Implementation

Implementation outcomes reported:

Acceptability

Continuum target addressed:

Engagement in treatment (including retention and re-engagement)

Geography:

Fulton County-GA, DeKalb County-GA

Study Participant Classification:

Recipients of care, Providers

Plain Language Objectives

The researchers wanted to learn how Atlanta HIV clinics should contact and support people who had fallen out of care. They compared preferences for calls, texts, secondary contacts, and in-person outreach by peers.

Plain Language Abstract

Clinics often struggle to reconnect people with HIV who are out of care because telephone numbers change, voicemail boxes fill, and housing can be unstable. From June 2019 through May 2021, researchers surveyed 50 people with HIV who were out of care in metropolitan Atlanta. They also interviewed 13 people with different clinic perspectives, including patients, community-advisory-board members, and peer navigators. Phone calls, text messages, and contacting a person previously named by the patient were the most commonly preferred methods, but preferences varied widely. Participants also expressed high acceptance of outreach visits by peers. Trust, emotional or practical support, and protection of privacy strongly shaped whether peer outreach felt acceptable. The authors concluded that clinics should not rely on one contact method. Instead, they should offer several communication and outreach options and ask patients what they prefer. The study measured preferences and experiences; it did not test whether a particular outreach method successfully re-engaged or retained more people in care. Findings from this relatively small Atlanta sample may require adaptation in other settings.

Key Takeaways

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