HIV Positive Hispanic/Latinos Who Delay HIV Care: Analysis of Multilevel Care Engagement Barriers

Abstract

This article overviews a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) study with a sample population consisting of 470 Hispanic/Latino persons living with HIV/AIDS who received primary HIV/AIDS medical services from one of five HRSA Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) Border Health demonstration projects. The study purpose was to identify multilevel barriers that affect delayed entry into HIV/AIDS medical care among Hispanic/Latino persons living along the U.S.-Mexico border. Multilevel variables along individual, community/cultural, and structural/systems were assessed relative to delayed care entry. The results of this examination indicate that individual and structural/system-level variables affect delayed care entry, whereas support was not found for community/cultural-level barriers. Study findings inform treatment engagement strategies aimed to decrease HIV disease progression by bringing Hispanic/Latinos into care sooner.

Individual and Community Factors Associated With Geographic Clusters of Poor HIV Care Retention and Poor Viral Suppression

“…3,11 As monitoring of HIV infection increasingly focuses on the HIV care continuum 11–14 , analyses of public health surveillance data may reveal geographic patterns that vary at each step. 15,16 Moreover, a better understanding of the structural and community-level factors that influence or impede completion of HIV care continuum steps is needed 17–23 .…”

Características clínicas y epidemiológicas de la infección por VIH en inmigrantes latinoamericanos versus chilenos: estudio comparativo en un centro de atención de Santiago a partir de registros de 2003-2013

“…e Israel [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] . Se han estudiado factores probables que determinan disparidades en cuanto a retraso en el diagnóstico, acceso y adherencia a tratamiento antiretroviral (TARV) y resultado clínico [22][23][24][25][26][27][28] . Se ha planteado la necesidad de estrategias de prevención distintas a la población autóctona en estos grupos [29][30][31][32][33][34] .…”

Deportation History Among HIV-Positive Latinos in Two US–Mexico Border Communities

“…Lastly, our finding that deportees were less likely than non-deportees to report generalized (“community”) indicators of HIV-related stigma (e.g., “Most people believe a person who has HIV is dirty”) may indicate that persons with a history of deportation may be more isolated and place less emphasis on perceived broader societal opinions than how they feel about themselves, which supports our earlier finding that personalized HIV-related stigma was more prominent among deportees than non-deportees. Interestingly, a recent border study of Latinos living with HIV noted that individuals who reported concern about others thinking badly of them because they are HIV-positive were more likely to engage in care sooner than individuals who did not report this concern about what others thought [43]. The apparent dissonance between personalized (“I feel”) versus society-driven (“others think”) in these cases may be due to our limited ability to measure the relative impact of different types of stigma.…”