PS07-005 Multi-Site Rapid HIV Testing in Urban Community Mental Health Settings

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We propose the implementation a multi-site program designed to increase HIV testing and improve linkage to care for HIV-infected in community mental health settings with large numbers of numbers of African Americans. Using a six-month longitudinal design, we will be enrolling participants who meet inclusion criteria for assessment, counseling, and Rapid HIV Testing at baseline. These participants will be interviewed again at 6 months post intervention. on the study is designed to evaluate changes in HIV risk behaviors, linkages to HIV care, and subsequent use of mental health services. As the primary coordinating institution, the Penn research team will be collaborating with a mix of three types of facilities in Philadelphia and Baltimore, through our collaborators at the University of Maryland. Target facilities in both cities include university-based inpatient psychiatric units, Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs), and Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) programs. As described in this application, the facilities in the two Cities are well matched and both sites will use the same protocol and procedures. We plan to recruit 200 persons per program type within each city for a total of 1200 study participants. We expect to collect six-month follow-up data on at least 75% of these subjects for a complete longitudinal sample of more than 900. Based on data on health care utilization from the National Survey of Black Americans (Jackson, 1991) we believe that future public health relevance for mentally ill African Americans is best addressed by targeting common program types where these individuals receive services. This is particularly true for the attenuated range of SES among persons with SMI who are largely SSI and SDI eligible and have Medicaid as their payor for health services. By sampling inpatients, CMHC outpatients, and ACT consumers, we capture overwhelmingly the three predominant modalities of delivery mental health service delivery in the United States (Mental Health United States, 2002).