The purpose of the proposed project is to provide timely and responsive HIV Prevention Navigator services to undergraduate and graduate students from racial/ethnic minorities at highest risk for HIV and substance use disorders enrolled at the University at Albany, State University of New York, a diverse public institution of higher education that offers access to excellence and career opportunities for students from racial and ethnic minorities hailing from areas that are hardest hit by the HIV epidemic (Bronx County, Kings County, New York County, and Queens County). The project will use a navigation approach which engages HIV Prevention Navigators and Peer Support Specialists representing racial and ethnic minorities with lived experience with substance use disorders and HIV to expedite services for our target population; this will be accomplished by linking our students to on-campus comprehensive behavioral health services and community services addressing substance use and HIV through a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) approach based within the University at Albany's Behavioral Health System. The project will also provide training and education focused on the risks of substance misuse and HIV/AIDS to our entire target population, and facilitate vital linkages to services for our students with HIV. Additionally, training on HIV and viral hepatitis screening will be delivered to on-campus and off-campus partner medical and mental health/social services providers who deliver services to this target population as part of this project. Project efforts will reach approximately 10,000 students from racial and ethnic minorities (2,000 annually) throughout the five-year life of the grant.
Specific project goals include enhancing timely access to and responsive follow-up across the substance use disorder and HIV spectrum of services by students within the target population, reduction of consumption of alcohol and other substances (including opioids) and related health consequences, increasing abstinence, reducing other HIV risk factors, and sustaining coordinated, timely, and responsive screening and treatment access for both substance use disorders and HIV. This project has been developed through a strategic planning process involving a Project Institutionalization Council of campus and community stakeholders in response to a critical service need as documented by assessment data suggesting that an increasing number of our students are arriving on campus with established high-risk substance use patterns and HIV risk requiring comprehensive, accessible, and timely screening and follow-up treatment, in combination with data from the New York State Department of Health indicating that the Capital District is seeing the greatest increase in prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), including HIV.
Colleges and universities have been described as a potential "epicenter of the HIV/AIDS epidemic," since young adults below age 24 comprise more than one-fifth of all new HIV diagnoses (Adefuye, Abiona, Balogun, & Lukobo-Durrell, 2009). It is estimated that one in every 500 college students in the US is HIV positive (Haile, Kingori, Darlington, Basta, & Chavan, 2017).
Partner agencies for this project include the University at Albany Behavioral Health System, the Albany Medical Center HIV/AIDS Medicine Program, the Damien Center, and the Alliance for Positive Health, all located in Albany, New York. This project will allow University at Albany students from racial and ethnic minorities at risk for substance use and HIV to access higher education opportunities, be retained in and complete college, continue progress toward advanced study and entry into the workforce, and experience enhanced health and quality of life.
