University of Toronto Reports Findings in HIV/AIDS (Barriers to and facilitators of accessing HIV services for street-involved youth in Canada and Kenya): Immune System Diseases and Conditions – HIV/AIDS

2022 OCT 26 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New research on Immune System Diseases and Conditions - HIV/AIDS is the subject of a report. According to news originating from Toronto, Canada, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “UNICEF estimates that there are as many as 100 million street-involved youth (SIY) globally. Marginalized conditions put SIY at higher risk of HIV and adverse outcomes once HIV-positive.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Toronto, “The objective of this analysis was to describe barriers and facilitators of accessing HIV prevention, testing, and treatment services as Phase I of an implementation study evaluating the use of peer navigators to increase access to HIV services. Semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions (FGD), and theatre testing were conducted with individuals who identify as SIY, health care providers, and community stakeholders living in Canada (Toronto, Montreal, London) and Kenya (Eldoret, Huruma, Kitale). Data were analyzed using a directed content approach, guided by the socio-ecological model (SEM). Across the six sites were 195 participants: 64 SIY, 42 healthcare providers, and 97 community-based stakeholders. Barriers were identified at the societal (e.g. intersectional stigma and discrimination), public policy (e.g., inadequate access to basic needs, legal documentation, lack of health insurance, and limited community-based funding), institutional (e.g. lack of inclusive education and training, inadequate HIV educational outreach, and restrictive service provision), interpersonal (e.g., ineffective communication from healthcare providers), and intrapersonal levels (e.g. lack of trust and associated fear, low perception for healthcare, and lack of self-esteem). These contributed to limited HIV services utilization among SIY. Conversely, numerous facilitators were also identified at the public policy (e.g. affordable HIV services and treatment), institutional (e.g. available and accessible HIV prevention tools, HIV education and awareness programs, and holistic models of care), interpersonal level (e.g., systems navigation support, peer support, and personal relationships), and intrapersonal levels (e.g. self-efficacy) as positively supporting SIY access to HIV services. Intersectional stigma was a critical barrier in all sites, and policies and programs that foster welcoming environments for youth from diverse backgrounds and living circumstances may be better able to respond to the HIV service needs of this high risk population.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Social support and navigation services were reported to facilitate access to HIV services in all sites.”

For more information on this research see: Barriers to and facilitators of accessing HIV services for street-involved youth in Canada and Kenya. BMC Public Health, 2022;22(1):1901. BMC Public Health can be contacted at: Bmc, Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9XW, England. (BioMed Central - http://www.biomedcentral.com/; BMC Public Health - http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcpublichealth/)

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Katie MacEntee, Division of Epidemiology, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College Street, M5T 3M7, Toronto, ON, Canada. Additional authors for this research include Momina Khan, Reuben Kiptui, Amy Van Berkum, Abe Oudshoorn, David O. Ayuku, Edith Apondi, Edward Ou Jin Lee, Alex Abramovich, Sue-Ann MacDonald and Paula Braitstein.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-022-14290-7. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

The publisher’s contact information for the journal BMC Public Health is: Bmc, Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9XW, England.

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