PROJECT ABSTRACT SUMMARY
PURPOSE
Inova Juniper Program (IJP) will provide outreach, testing, linkage, and engagement services focused on communities of Northern Virginia. IJP has six locations in all areas of the region, which includes the counties of Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William, and the city of Alexandria. In order to gain trust, engagement, and overcome barriers to care, program services will be primarily delivered by Outreach Workers hired from these communities with similar life experiences to the clients they serve.
OUTCOMES
IJP will achieve both short/intermediate and long term outcomes in each of the strategies outlined for Comprehensive High Impact HIV Prevention Programs for Young Men of Color Who have Sex with Men (YMSM).
Prioritized Testing:
Short/Intermediate Term: Increase HIV testing, HIV diagnoses, and awareness of HIV status among priority population
Long Term: Reduce HIV incidence among priority population, increase cultural and demographic awareness of HIV testing options and community HIV care resources, and decrease stigmatization of sexual health testing and HIV/AIDS among high-risk demographics
Status Neutral Comprehensive High Impact HIV Prevention (HIP):
Short/Intermediate: Increase access to prevention and essential support services, receipt of integrated screenings, access to condoms, screenings, referrals and linkage to PrEP, and HIV treatment services, linkage to HIV care among persons newly diagnosed HIV < 30 days, re-engagement to HIV care among persons with previously diagnosed HIV or qualifying Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI), and access to appropriate medication adherence services
Long Term: Improve health outcomes for ALL persons regardless of HIV status, and reduce community viral load and greater recognition of undetectable viral load as a method of combatting future transmissions and ending the epidemic, death rate among the priority population diagnosed with HIV infection, and HIV-related disparities in incidence, morbidity, and viral load among priority populations
Collaboration, Promotion, and Recruitment:
Short/Intermediate Term: Increase access to safe spaces among priority populations to address social determinants of health related barriers, program promotion and outreach to priority populations, and awareness of social determinants of health and coordination to improve them
Long Term: Improve health outcomes for all persons regardless of HIV status and reduce HIV-related disparities in incidence, morbidity, and viral load among priority populations
Over the course of this five year project, the program seeks to reduce new HIV infections, improve health outcomes and reduce morbidity and mortality among people living with HIV, and improve the overall health status of young, Black men who have sex with men in Northern Virginia.