CHWs Providing Gender Affirming Care and HIV Intervention

CCHA has established a partnership with the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Center for Health Equity Research to develop, implement, and assess  community health worker specialty modules. The modules aim to equip CHWs with the tools to engage in HIV care and prevention as well as provide gender affirming care for all (especially trangender people of color). Trangender People of Color (TPOC) are heavily burdened by HIV, particularly in the South. This partnership will address the need to increase the availability and access to resources that reduce known barriers to engagement in HIV services.

Research

This implementation science research seeks to identify the acceptability and feasibility of a community health worker (CHW) intervention that addresses barriers to three pillars of ending the HIV epidemic: diagnose, treat, and prevent. Limited research indicates that a flexible CHW intervention designed for face-to-face or virtual delivery has the potential to enhance HIV services uptake, maximize HIV care engagement and reach TPOC and other individuals in rural areas.

 

Our Goals

  • Develop CHW training modules designed to focus on HIV care and prevention as well as gender affirming care
  • Train a small group of CHWs to provide health education and linkage services, including PrEP, HIV care, and social services that reduces barrier to care for TPOC in rural and urban areas
  • Pilot test procedures for the delivery of the CHW intervention both in person and virtually via an existing stigma-informed digital platform adapted for this study population.