Check It: A Community-Based Chlamydia Seek, Test, and Treat Program for Young Black Men Who Have Sex With Women in New Orleans, Louisiana

Abstract

Background: Check It is a novel, bundled, community-based seek, test, and treat Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) screening program for 15-to 24-year-old Black men in New Orleans who have sex with women. The program design addressed barriers and facilitators to Ct screening/ treatment by enlisting trusted community partners, incorporating participant input, providing free index/partner expedited treatment, developing relatable marketing materials and an educational Web site, encouraging peer referral, and providing a modest monetary incentive.Methods: Areas of high poverty were identified using census data; ethnographic/key informant interviews identified sites in those areas where the target population congregated. Black youth informed Web site design and social marketing. Content was inspirational/educational/amusing and endorsed recruitment and brand awareness. A community advisory board, participant interviews, community partner feedback, and recruitment staff involvement in the process evaluation helped refine the program in an ongoing manner.Results: During formative stages, 41 key informant/community advisory board members informed program refinement. Community partners provided venue locations (n = 65) and participant referrals. Between May 22, 2017, and February 28, 2020, 1890 men were enrolled (acceptance rate, 96.0%) with Ct infection rate of 10.2%. Overall study treatment was provided to 86.1% (71.4%-90.9%) of participants who tested positive and 28.5% (14.5%-41.5%) of their partners. Findings from in-depth interviews with participants (n = 43) led to increased treatment uptake.Conclusions: C. trachomatis community screening of young Black men was successful through collaboration with trusted community partners, by tailoring implements/marketing with participant input, reducing barriers to treatment, and providing modest monetary incentives. The Check It program can serve as a roadmap for reducing health disparities in this population.

Past incarceration and chlamydia infection among young Black men in New Orleans

“…The Check It Program was a Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) community-based seek, test, and treat screening program for Black men aged 15-24 who have sex with women in New Orleans, Louisiana. Methods have been described elsewhere, but briefly, the program was developed to evaluate the effect of screening and treating men for chlamydia and gonorrhea in communities with high STI prevalence (25). Participants were recruited through venue-based recruitment and via print and social media marketing.…”

“…Participation in Check It was limited to those who met the following inclusion criteria: identified as African American or Black, were assigned male sex at birth (based on the question "do you have a penis? "), were 15-24 years of age, had lived or spent most of their time in Orleans Parish, had reported having had vaginal sex with a woman in their lifetime, were able and willing to consent to study activities, spoke and understood English, had not taken azithromycin in the 2 weeks before enrollment, and had not been previously enrolled in Check It (25).…”

Anal and Oral Sex Behaviors Among Young Black Men Who Have Vaginal Sex: Evidence of the Need for Extragenital Testing for Chlamydia and Gonorrhea

“…Data were collected through the Check It program, a community-based Ct and GC screening program located in New Orleans, LA, for young Black men aged 15 to 24 years who have sex with women. Methods have been described elsewhere, 21 but briefly, participants were recruited through venue-based methods (including barbershops, historically Black colleges and universities, job training programs, health fairs, and other community venues throughout New Orleans), peer referral, and social marketing strategies between May 2017 and May 2021.…”

Effectiveness of incentivized peer referral to increase enrollment in a community-based chlamydia screening and treatment study among young Black men

“…Because of this, efforts have been made to determine if there are benefits to increasing screening and treatment in young men. The Check It study is a novel, bundled, community-based seek, test, and treat Ct screening program for 15-to 26-year-old Black men in New Orleans who have sex with women (MSW) [11]. Check It was designed with the purpose of determining if community-based Ct screening of young Black men ages 15-26 in New Orleans could both address barriers to Ct screening and treatment in this group and decrease rates of Ct in young women in New Orleans.…”