Barcelona 2013
Menu
AIDSImpact.com
Conference Details
Authors
International Committee
Plenary Speakers
Presenting Speakers
Programme
Sessions
Scientific Committee
Acknowledgements
| Abstract #271 - E-Posters English | ||||
|
Session: 50.81: E-Posters English (Poster) on Sunday in Chaired by Authors: Presenting Author: Dr. Daniela Rojas Castro - AIDES, France |
||||
| Additional Authors: Dr. Jordi Casabona, Sra Cristina Sanclemente, Dra. Anna Esteve, Dra. Victoria Gonzalez, Grupo HIVITS TS, | ||||
| Aim: The HIV-Community-based testing project, lead by the CEEISCAT (Catalonia) and co-funded by the Executive Agency for Health and consumers (EAHC), aims to promote early diagnosis of HIV infection in Europe by implementing, building, and evaluating community-based practices in order to increase access to HIV VCT. Nevertheless, because a state-of-the-art was needed regarding the CBVCT services already existing in Europe, a qualitative study was conducted to identify and describe different practices in the implementation of CBVCT in Europe. | ||||
| Method / Issue: Interviews with CBVCT coordinators and focus groups with 3-5 CBVCT users were conducted in 2011 in eight countries (Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovenia). The same interview and focus group guide was used in all the countries in order to obtain information regarding the same issues. All the materials were recorded, translated and re-transcribed in order to perform a content analysis of the final corpus. | ||||
| Results / Comments: Three main dimensions emerged when the corpus was analyzed: 1) national context, 2) definition and advantages of CBVCT in comparison with formal health settings, and 3) description of CBVCT features. Remarkable differences among countries have been identified. Thus, the involvement and the influence of the communities affected by HIV/Aids in the organization of the national health system differ enormously depending on the epidemics and on the historical, political and social background of the eight countries. The regulations vis-à-vis the implementation and functioning of CBVCT are quite diverse, but it depends strongly on a centralized or regional health organization. CBVCT services are mainly defined by the coordinators and users as a privileged place for hard-to-reach populations, a place outside traditional health settings. These services are mainly characterized by having staff (medical or community-based) close to the populations catered for and able to establish non-judgmental relationships with the clients. This closeness and non-judgmental attitude are undoubtedly the main advantages of these services. As for the features of the CBVCT participating in the study we found: fixed versus mobile units, services offering only HIV testing versus others offering also STI tests and vaccination, services with very different opening days and hours, services requesting oral, written or no informed consent. In other words, lots of possibilities exist according to national contexts. | ||||
| Discussion: The way CBVCT services are run depends on the current and very different institutions and policies of the European states. Common and efficient practices have emerged, allowing the creation of a guide addressed to implementing and improving European CBVCT services. | ||||
| Go Back | ||||