Project: Experiences of LGBTQ+ Populations in New York City During the COVID-19 Pandemic (The LEXICON Study) This important evidence base will inform strategies to reach unvaccinated individuals and assist policymakers in developing further programs to support those most negatively impacted by the pandemic. For example, 81 percent of LGBTQ+ individuals reported experiencing financial hardship as a result of the pandemic. While LGBTQ+ individuals in NYC reported a similar burden of COVID-19 and vaccine uptake compared to the general population of the city, the study revealed this community is more likely to experience increased financial and emotional challenges due to the pandemic, particularly among the most stigmatized, such as gender minorities and among those with multiple minority identities. To gain insight into the burden and impact of COVID-19 on this community, and assess vaccine uptake, ICAP conducted a study that reached more than 1,000 LGBTQ+ New Yorkers aged 18 to 68 years. Project: HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) INTEGRA study (HPTN 094)Īs COVID-19 swept the globe, its ruthless trajectory exacerbated the challenges and inequities already faced by the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community, including employment and housing discrimination, inequitable health care, and more. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) with funding from the U.S. Mobile health units, along with this study, are providing the engine necessary to reach that mission.įunder: U.S. “Our team is actively promoting the need to address these underlying factors to fully provide addiction services.”Īs the van proclaims in bright lettering, ICAP is driving health forward. “This finding is particularly important because recreational drug use may be used as a form of self-medication,” said Alan Padilla, BA, community educator at ICAP’s Bronx Prevention Center. Since the study began, initial findings revealed a high prevalence of mental health disorders such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder among participants. Although we recognize that some people will have serious medical conditions that require them to see specialists – and we will help them with that,” said Ellen Morrison, MD, site lead at ICAP’s Bronx Prevention Center. “Our goal is to make it as close to one stop as a possible. “And they will also be tested for HIV, STIs, and hepatitis, and screened for routine primary care problems such as diabetes and blood pressure issues.”Īfter six months, all participants transition to care in the community. Follow-up after the study extends to 12 months. “The integrated care model means they will be able to receive their buprenorphine prescription from the van,” said Rashaunna Redd, NP, site clinician for ICAP’s Bronx Prevention Center, which conducts the study. Participants in the study are randomized to receive integrated care on the “van” – as the study team calls it – or to receive the services of a health care navigator who will assist the participant in finding care in the community. At locations frequented by people who inject drugs, ICAP study team members engaged with individuals, provided them with information regarding the study, enrolled participants and followed up with them throughout their study participation. The mobile clinic is at the center of ICAP’s participation in the nationwide INTEGRA study (HPTN 094), which aims to determine whether using mobile health units to deliver integrated health services for people with opioid use disorder can improve addiction, HIV, hepatitis C and substance use outcomes compared to standard of care. Factors such as lack of access to health care, poverty, mental health disorders, use of multiple illicit substances, stigma and discrimination combine to increase the risk of HIV transmission and acquisition and other health issues among people who inject drugs. But beneath the colorful exterior is a serious proposition – to address the intertwined public health crises of opioid addiction, HIV, and hepatitis C among people who inject drugs.ĭrug overdose is the leading cause of accidental death in the United States, with nearly 108,000 fatalities in 2021, the highest number of overdose deaths recorded in any 12-month period. In summer 2021, a state-of-the-art mobile clinic began making rounds in the streets of Harlem and the Bronx, drawing attention with its bright graphics. With a Clinic on Wheels, ICAP Moves Research on Opioids and HIV Into the Passing Lane
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