A COVID-19 Vaccination Program to Promote Uptake and Equity for People Experiencing Homelessness in Los Angeles County.

People experiencing homelessness (PEH) have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, yet their vaccination coverage is lower than is that of the general population. We implemented a COVID-19 vaccination program that used evidence-based and culturally tailored approaches to promote vaccine uptake and equity for PEH in Los Angeles County, California. From February 2021 through February 2022, 33 977 doses of vaccine were administered at 2658 clinics, and 9275 PEH were fully vaccinated. This program may serve as a model for future service delivery in vulnerable populations. (Am J Public Health. 2023;113(2):170-174. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.307147).

Engaging Same-Day Peer Ambassadors to Increase Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination Among People Experiencing Unsheltered Homelessness in Los Angeles County: A Hybrid Feasibility-Evaluation Study.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of engaging unhoused peer ambassadors (PAs) in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination efforts to reach people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Los Angeles County. METHODS: From August to December 2021, vaccinated PAs aged ≥18 years who could provide informed consent were recruited during vaccination events for same-day participation. Events were held at encampments, service providers (eg, housing agencies, food lines, and mobile showers), and roving locations around Los Angeles. PAs were asked to join outreach alongside community health workers and shared their experience getting vaccinated, receiving a $25 gift card for each hour they participated. Postevent surveys evaluated how many PAs enrolled and how long they participated. In October 2021, we added a preliminary effectiveness evaluation of how many additional vaccinations were attributable to PAs. Staff who enrolled the PAs estimated the number of additional people vaccinated because of talking with the PA. RESULTS: A total of 117 PAs were enrolled at 103 events, participating for an average of 2 hours. At events with the effectiveness evaluation, 197 additional people were vaccinated over 167 PA hours ($21.19 gift card cost per additional person vaccinated), accounting for >25% of all vaccines given at these events. DISCUSSION: Recruiting same-day unhoused PAs is a feasible, acceptable, and preliminarily effective technique to increase COVID-19 vaccination in unsheltered settings. The findings can inform delivery of other health services for people experiencing homelessness.

Mechanisms for Community Health Worker Action on Patient-, Institutional-, and Community-Level Barriers to Primary Care in a Safety-Net Setting.

Medically and socially complex patients disproportionately face barriers to primary care, contributing to health inequities and higher health care costs. This study elicited perspectives on how community health workers (CHWs) act upon barriers to primary care in 5 patient (n = 25) and 3 CHW focus groups (n = 17). Participants described how CHWs acted on patient-level barriers through social support, empowerment, and linkages, and system-level barriers by enhancing care team awareness of patient circumstances, optimizing communication, and advocating for equitable treatment. Limitations existed for influencing entrenched community-level barriers. CHWs, focusing on patient preferences, motivators, and circumstances, intervened on multilevel barriers to primary care, including advocacy for equitable treatment. These mechanisms have implications for existing CHW conceptual models.

Lessons in translation: insights from a collaboration integrating community health workers into diabetes care.

Beginning in 2007, a community health center and a community health worker organization collaborated on a community health worker initiative to improve diabetes outcomes among underserved communities. Despite a shared vision, the initiative ended prematurely because of a number of unexpected collaborative challenges. This article describes the results of a qualitative investigation into these challenges. Through examples, we show how our collaborative difficulties were due to 3 interacting influences: logistics, participation, and institutional culture. We argue for the importance of institutional cultural competency in health care collaborations and provide recommendations for future collaborations that takes into account these 3 overarching influences.

Effect of directly observed therapy for highly active antiretroviral therapy on virologic, immunologic, and adherence outcomes: a meta-analysis and systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: Directly observed therapy of highly active antiretroviral therapy (DOT-HAART) is a feasible adherence intervention. Prospective DOT-HAART studies have shown mixed results, and optimal target groups have yet to be defined. We performed a meta-analysis and systematic review to assess the effect of DOT-HAART on adherence and virologic and immunologic response. METHODS: We performed a comprehensive search through August 2009 to identify peer-reviewed controlled studies that involved outpatient DOT-HAART among adults and reported at least 1 outcome assessed in this meta-analysis. Random-effects meta-analyses were performed; differences in effect on virologic suppression were examined using stratified meta-analyses and meta-regression on several study characteristics. RESULTS: Seventeen studies met inclusion criteria. Compared with control groups, DOT-HAART recipients were more likely to achieve an undetectable viral load (random effects risk ratio 1.24, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.08 to 1.41), a greater increase in CD4 cell count (random effects weighted mean difference 43 cells/microL, 95% CI: 12 to 74 cells/microL), and HAART adherence of > or =95% (random effects risk ratio 1.17, 95% CI: 1.03 to 1.32). Results varied with respect to virologic response. DOT-HAART did not have a significant effect on virologic suppression when restricted to randomized controlled studies. Post-treatment effect was not observed in a limited number of studies. CONCLUSIONS: DOT-HAART had a significant effect on virologic, immunologic, and adherence outcomes, although its efficacy was not supported when restricting analysis to randomized controlled trials. DOT-HAART shows greatest treatment effect when targeting individuals with greater risk of nonadherence and when delivering the intervention that maximizes participant convenience and provides enhanced adherence support. Further investigation is needed to assess the postintervention effect and cost-effectiveness of DOT-HAART.

African American women and HIV/AIDS: a national call for targeted health communication strategies to address a disparity.

African American women are disproportionately affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States. To address this disparity, the CDC released a call for targeted communication campaigns in African American communities. The mass media is an HIV/AIDS information source used by African Americans, and media initiatives can be cost-effective for delivering HIV prevention messages. Needed is research in communities at risk to determine the messages needed and the preferred formats and channels with which to deliver the messages so that targeted communication campaigns can be part of the multifaceted approach to ending the HIV/AIDS disparity affecting African American women.

Antiretroviral therapy in resource-poor settings. Decreasing barriers to access and promoting adherence.

Since 2002, the HIV Equity Initiative of the nongovernmental organization Partners in Health has been expanded in conjunction with the Haitian MOH to cover 7 public clinics. More than 8000 HIV-positive persons, 2300 of whom are on antiretroviral therapy (ART) are now followed. This article describes the interventions to promote access to care and adherence to ART developed in reference to the specific context of poverty in rural Haiti. User fees for clinic attendance have been waived for all patients with HIV and tuberculosis and for women presenting for prenatal services. Additionally, HIV testing has been integrated into the provision of primary care services to increase HIV case finding among those presenting to clinic because of illness, rather than solely focusing on those who present for voluntary counseling and testing (VCT). Once a patient is diagnosed with HIV, medications and monitoring tests are provided free of charge and transportation costs for follow-up appointments are covered to defray patients' out-of-pocket expenses. Patients are given home-based adherence support from a network of health workers who provide psychosocial support and directly observed therapy. In addition, the neediest patients receive nutritional support. Following the description of the program is an approximation of the costs of these interventions and a discussion of their impact.