Survey identifies challenges in PrEP awareness and access, provider burnout, treatment priorities, retention in care, and integrating services.

WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, UNITED STATES, November 29, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The HIV prevention, care, and treatment landscape shows challenges across the HIV care continuum, according to the just released digital report of the findings from the HealthHIV State of HIV Care™ Fifth Annual National Survey. HealthHIV’s survey identified that healthcare providers see significant structural challenges across the status-neutral HIV care continuum – from PrEP awareness to HIV viral suppression, impacting progress towards ending the HIV epidemic. Key survey findings also indicate that workforce burnout is significant and persists beyond the COVID pandemic and that HIV providers prioritize behavioral health, aging, and comorbidity management as their key treatment concerns.

HealthHIV is releasing the national survey findings in advance of World AIDS Day this Friday, December 1, 2023. Thirty-five years after the first World AIDS Day, the trajectory to end the HIV epidemic by 2030 faces systemic barriers that could impact achieving equitable access to HIV prevention, care, and treatment.

Key survey findings represent the challenges and areas for improvement in HIV prevention, care and treatment from the perspective of healthcare providers, including:

• Burnout Persistent Among HIV Workforce: Strategies such as flexible scheduling, manageable workloads, and adequate staffing to combat burnout and its related workforce shortage should be prioritized.

• Providers Indicate PrEP Awareness and Outreach Top Priority: Efforts to enhance PrEP uptake along the continuum, focusing on awareness and promotion of PrEP, especially in racial and ethnic minorities and among unstably housed individuals are needed to reduce new HIV infections.

• Limited Familiarity with Status-Neutral Care Delays Integration of Prevention and Treatment Settings: Only 30% of participants were aware of this framework, underscoring the necessity for enhanced education and promotion to foster better connections between prevention and treatment environments.

• Prescribers Most Concerned About Managing HIV Treatment with Competing Priorities Including Aging, Comorbidities, and Behavioral Health: Complexities in care underscore the importance of integrated services to effectively address the multifaceted needs of individuals with HIV.

• Retention in HIV Care Challenging Due to Mental Health Issues, Substance Use, and Housing Instability: Developing targeted interventions to address social determinants of health is needed to improve overall patient engagement and outcomes.

• Lack of Awareness of the Effect of HIV Criminalization on Underserved Communities: Promoting public awareness, educating lawmakers and law enforcement officials, and advocating for public health approaches are key steps to address this issue and its impact on people living with HIV.

In the survey, HealthHIV asked respondents to describe the state of HIV care in one word. The most often mentioned words were : “improving,” followed by “better,” “progressing,” and “evolving,” suggesting that despite advancements in care, the need for continued improvement exists.

For more information about the report, please contact Elizabeth Moore, HealthHIV’s Director of Health Services Research and Evaluation, at Elizabeth@HealthHIV.org.

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About HealthHIV’s Fifth Annual State of HIV Care National Survey™
HealthHIV Research and Evaluation conducts State of Annual National Surveys to better inform ongoing advocacy, education, research, and training activities. These key insights were obtained through engagement with 1,031 clinical and nonclinical healthcare providers from diverse backgrounds across the country.

About HealthHIV
HealthHIV is a national non-profit working with healthcare organizations, communities, and providers to advance effective HIV, HCV, STI and LGBTQ health care, harm reduction and health equity through education and training, technical assistance and capacity building, advocacy, communications, and health services research and evaluation. HealthHIV leads the HealthHCV initiative and the National Coalition for LGBTQ Health, and offers a variety of accredited medical education activities addressing HIV prevention, care, and treatment, including the HealthHIV Prevention Certified Provider Certification Program and the HealthHIV HIV Treatment Innovation Certificate Program. Learn more at healthhiv.org.

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Visit HealthHIV.org/stateofsurveys/hivcaretoolkit to view and download promotional assets.

Keirsten A. Shaffer
HealthHIV
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