Pharmacy Intervention to Improve HIV Testing Uptake Using a Comprehensive Health Screening Approach

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Disparities
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Barriers to HIV testing persist for low-income Black and Latino individuals, particularly those who use illicit drugs.
• HIV exceptionalism contributes to stigma, reducing willingness to undergo testing.
• Pharmacy-based interventions can address testing barriers in underserved communities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate a pharmacy-based intervention combining HIV testing with chronic disease screening to reduce HIV testing stigma.
• To normalize HIV testing by equating it with routine health screenings.
• To improve HIV testing uptake among minority populations in New York City.

Main Methods:

• A comparative study involving three pharmacy arms: comprehensive (HIV testing, chronic disease screening, video), video only, and control (HIV testing only).
• Intervention conducted in low-income, minority neighborhoods in New York City from 2010 to 2012.
• Recruitment of un/underinsured customers, injection drug users (IDUs), and their peers by pharmacy staff and IDUs.

Main Results:

• Participants in the comprehensive and video arms were marginally significantly more likely to receive an HIV test compared to the control arm.
• Prevalence ratios indicated increased likelihood of testing in intervention groups (PR=1.61 and PR=1.59, respectively).
• The strategy showed potential for improving HIV testing rates in targeted populations.

Conclusions:

• Destigmatizing and normalizing HIV testing strategies can improve uptake.
• Pharmacy-based interventions integrating HIV testing with other screenings may reduce racial/ethnic disparities in HIV.
• This approach is promising for high-HIV-prevalence communities and high-risk populations.