Posts Tagged ‘HIV’

Surviving and Thriving: Older Gay Men and MSM Living with HIV

Friday, September 12th, 2014

In NYS, more than 35% of people living with HIV are gay men or men who have sex with men (MSM). The National HIV/AIDS strategy established the goal of increasing the proportion of HIV-diagnosed gay and bisexual men with undetectable viral load by 20%. This one-day training will prepare non-physician health and human services providers to support older gay men and MSM with retention in medical care, achieving viral suppression and promoting behaviors that will prevent transmission of HIV to their partners.

As a result of this training, participants will be able to:

  • Recall NYS-specific data which demonstrate the disproportionate impact of HIV on older gay men and MSM living with HIV/AIDS;
  • Define retention in HIV care and viral suppression and explore specific challenges for older gay men and MSM;
  • Define high impact HIV prevention and explore implications for older MSM;
  • Recall how experiences related to “coming out”, stigma, social isolation,  presence or absence of family/ peer support and co-morbidities can impact participation in health care and prevention;
  • Discuss options for health insurance coverage for older adults living with HIV;
  • List the ways a provider can support or enhance a client’s personal and social assets to ensure linkage to care, retention in care and treatment adherence.

Pre-Requisite:

It is strongly recommended that participants have previous training in basic HIV and have taken the following AIDS Institute training: “Overview of HIV Infection and AIDS” (training offered at www.hivtrainingny.org) and have attended the training “Working with Older Adults Living with HIV.”

Target Audience:

Non-physician health and human services providers who work with clients/ patients with HIV including case managers, health home care managers and coordinators, social workers, client services staff and others.

Continuing Education Credits: This training is provided under New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) Education and Training Provider Certification Number 0305. Under the NYS OASAS Provider Certificate, this training is approved for 6.5 clock hours toward the education and training requirements for renewal of CASAC/CPP/CPS certification.

Promoting Primary Care & Treatment Adherence for HIV Positive Individuals

Friday, September 12th, 2014

6.5 OASAS credits (not approved for initial CPS credentialing)

This one-day training is designed to increase awareness of non-physician health and human services providers about HIV primary care guidelines and treatment adherence. Providers who are aware of HIV primary care guidelines and strategies for supporting treatment adherence can play an important role in improving the health outcomes of people living with HIV.

At the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• List the components of primary care for patients living with HIV;
• Identify the key elements of the annual comprehensive physical exam for patients living with HIV;
• Identify the routine laboratory screening and assessments used in primary care for people living with HIV, including methods used to assess and measure adherence;
• Recall the different classes of HIV medications and briefly describe how they work;
• Identify common barriers to treatment adherence, including medication side effects;
• List three specific strategies for promoting treatment adherence;
• Identify when referrals to specialty care may be needed;
• Work as a member of the care team to:
• help patients take advantage of health maintenance services, vaccination, and prophylaxis for opportunistic infections
• conduct client assessments and make referrals for a variety of psycho-social issues including substance use, mental health, domestic violence, smoking cessation, etc.

Prerequisite: It is strongly recommended that participants have previous knowledge or training on basic HIV/AIDS information.
Audience: All non-physician health and human services providers who work directly with people living with HIV including: case managers, counselors, nurses, support services providers and others.

Prevention Strategies and HIV Positive Clients – Webinar

Tuesday, September 9th, 2014

“Prevention Strategies and HIV Positive Clients”

 

Registration:

You must dual register at both of the following links to attend

https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/674321767

http://hivtrainingny.org/Account/LogOn?crs=1181

 

Description

During this two-hour webinar we will discuss strategies to help people living with HIV achieve behavioral changes that can prevent negative health outcomes for themselves and avoid transmission to others.

This Webinar will allow participants to:

 

Define “primary” and “secondary” prevention in HIV;

Explore current “Best Practices” in Prevention with HIV-Positive clients presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;

Examine the growing role of HIV treatment in the prevention of HIV transmission;

Discuss the importance of provider client relationship in addressing prevention issues with their HIV positive clients;

Review specific strategies for working with special populations; and

Examine prevention resources and be able to make referrals for prevention services.

Get the “HIV Answers” App

Monday, September 8th, 2014

Gilead's HIV Answers appNewly diagnosed with HIV? Or do you have questions about what it’s like to live with HIV? Check out Gilead Science’s new “HIV Answers” app for iPhone and Google. Designed for newly diagnosed HIV+ people, the app leads you through a series of questions to answer your immediate questions and connects you with any services you might need…and if you’re not ready to connect to services or help, the app provides more information about your current HIV status.

Plus, the app is password-protected and shows up in your app list with a discrete icon, so no one has to know what you’re researching.

You can download it from your phone’s app store, or visit www.hivanswers.com.

“Help Stop the Virus” Videos: Easy to Understand Education Video for Newly Diagnosed Clients

Monday, September 8th, 2014

If you’re looking for a short, simple way to describe HIV infection to someone newly diagnosed with HIV, check out Gilead’s “Help Stop the Virus” series on YouTube. “You may look fine. You may feel fine. But the virus is working away, causing harm to the body. That’s the trick HIV plays. Watch this video to see what HIV does and how treatment can help.”

Debating Truvada’s “99% Effective” Rate for HIV Prevention

Monday, July 21st, 2014

(Excerpted from the New York Times)

Truvada, the once-a-day pill to help keep people from contracting H.I.V., is on the cover of this week’s New York magazine, and Tim Murphy’s cover story focuses on how the pill is changing sex by drastically reducing gay men’s fear of infection.

It’s not hard to see why: Mr. Murphy writes, “When taken every day, it’s been shown in a major study to be up to 99 percent effective.” This is a claim I hear thrown around a lot among gay men in New York. And it’s wrong. The 99 percent figure isn’t a study finding; it’s a statistical estimate, based on a number of assumptions that are reasonable, but debatable.

Here’s how the estimate was reached: A major study of men who have sex with men, called iPrEx, found that H.I.V.-negative men who were prescribed daily Truvada were 44 percent less likely to contract the virus than those who were given a placebo. But a great many of the subjects did not take their prescribed medication regularly, or at all. Of 48 iPrEx subjects who were assigned to take Truvada and contracted H.I.V. anyway, just four had any detectable level of the drug in their system when they were diagnosed, indicating a 92 percent reduction in risk for people who were actually taking the medicine.

Read the full story at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/17/upshot/is-truvada-the-pill-to-prevent-hiv-99-percent-effective-dont-be-so-sure.html?_r=2

Rate of HIV Infections Declining…Except Among Gay Men

Monday, July 21st, 2014

(Excerpted from an Associated Press feature.)

According to a new major study, the rate of HIV infections diagnosed in the United States each year fell by one-third over the past decade, a government study finds. Experts celebrated it as hopeful news that the AIDS epidemic may be slowing in the U.S.

“It’s encouraging,” said Patrick Sullivan, an Emory University AIDS researcher who was not involved in the study.

The reasons for the drop aren’t clear. It might mean fewer new infections are occurring. Or that most infected people already have been diagnosed so more testing won’t necessarily find many more cases.

“It could be we are approaching something of a ‘ceiling effect,'” said one study leader, David Holtgrave of Johns Hopkins University.

The study is based on HIV diagnoses from all 50 states’ health departments, which get test results from doctors’ office, clinics, hospitals and laboratories. The data span a decade, making this a larger and longer look at these trends than any previous study, said another study author, Amy Lansky of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The findings: 16 out of every 100,000 people ages 13 and older were newly diagnosed with HIV in 2011, a steady decline from 24 out of 100,000 people in 2002.

Declines were seen in the rates for men, women, whites, blacks, Hispanics, heterosexuals, injection drug users and most age groups. The only group in which diagnoses increased was gay and bisexual men, the study found.

Read the full AP article here.

PrEP: What You Need to Know

Monday, July 14th, 2014

Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP): What You Need to Know

prep graphic

Tuesday, July 29th, at 7:30pm
At The LOFT

You’re seeing it in the news; a little blue pill called Truvada that, taken daily, offers a 99% reduction in the risk of contracting HIV, and referred to as PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis). However, there is a lot more information needed before individuals should just run off to see their doctor for a prescription. There are many questions that need to be answered:

* How did this all come about? Was there a study?
* Does it have to be taken daily?
* What else does it protect me from?
* Is it recommended that I still have to wear a condom?
* Will my health insurance cover it?
* Would I still have to be tested for HIV if I chose to go on PrEP?
* Are there risks or side effects?

Also covered will be PEP, or Post-Exposure Prophylaxis, which involves taking anti-HIV medications as soon as possible after you may have been exposed to HIV to try to reduce the chance of becoming HIV positive.

Join the LOFT as Bryn Ritchie, the Prevention Specialist of HVCS’ Project INFORM, gives us the low-down on what you need to know about PrEP and PEP, followed by a Q&A discussion with Bryn, LOFT staff, and other attendees about the controversies, myths, opinions, and arguments for and against the use of PrEP.

Attendees will receive a $5 Starbucks Gift Card. There will also be giveaways like messenger bags, sex toys, condoms, lube, and plenty of snacks.

National HIV Testing Day

Friday, June 20th, 2014

June 27th is National HIV Testing Day!

Do you know your status? When was the last time you had an HIV test? If you’re not sure, it’s time to find out. Whether you get a free, confidential HIV test on June 27th or set up an appointment that works for your schedule with HVCS’ staff, knowing your HIV status is vitally important.

To find out more about HVCS’ testing options, and if you’re at risk for HIV infection, visit our HIV testing page.

To mark National HIV Testing Day, the Westchester County Health Department and its Project WAVE (War Against the Virus Escalating) partners will offer free, rapid HIV tests on Friday, June 27, at the following locations:

Westchester County Health Department
Yonkers District Office
20 S. Broadway, 2nd Floor
8 a.m.-3 p.m.
Phone: 231-2500

Family Services of Westchester & Westchester Medical Center
Corner of Gramatan and Lincoln avenues, Mount Vernon
9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Phone: 493-1172

Open Door Family Medical Center
165 Main St., Ossining
9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Phone: 502-1479

Port Chester Open Door Medical Center
5 Grace Church St., Port Chester
9 a.m.-4 p.m.
Phone: 406-8207

“An estimated 1.2 million Americans are living with HIV, and yet one out of five doesn’t know it,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Sherlita Amler. “To find out your status, there are plenty of places in Westchester that offer free testing on a regular basis, like our Health Department clinics. The test is quick, simple and readily available, so there’s no excuse not to get one.”

The Westchester County Department of Health provides free, confidential, rapid HIV tests routinely at its HIV and STD clinics.

For more information, go to www.westchestergov.com/health and click on the clinic schedules link on the left.

WAVE works with more than 230 member agencies throughout the state to promote HIV counseling, testing and referrals.

Or check out Planned Parenthood’s free HIV testing on Friday, June 27th.

FREE* HIV TESTS
Friday, June 27

In honor of

National HIV Testing Day

Take a FREE* rapid HIV test at any PPHP Suffolk, Westchester, or Rockland health center on June 27.  Results available while you wait.  No appointment necessary, but recommended to reduce wait time.

 

PPHP Health Centers  

Suffolk County                                                    Westchester County
Smithtown: 70 Maple Ave.                                  White Plains: 175 Tarrytown Rd.

Huntington: 755 New York Ave., 3rd fl.               Mount Vernon: 6 Gramatan Ave., 4th fl.
Riverhead: 550 East Main St.                              New Rochelle: 247-249 North Ave.

West Islip: 180 Sunrise Hwy.                              Yonkers: 20 South Broadway, 11th fl.
Patchogue: 450 Waverly Ave.

 

Rockland County                                                Putnam County (**June 26)

Spring Valley: 25 Perlman Dr., 2nd fl.                 Brewster: 2505 Carmel Avenue

 

Quality. Affordable. Confidential.

www.pphp.org   1-800-230-PLAN (7526)

 

* The test and the office visit are free when visiting any PPHP health center for an HIV test only.

          ** Testing is free at Brewster center June 26 only.

Educational Inservice: HIV and Inflammation

Thursday, June 19th, 2014

Gilead HIV and Kidney Health Flyer

Gilead presents an educational inservice for social workers, medical staff, and community members on HIV and inflammation on Wednesday, November 19, 2014 at 12 noon. Dr. Jason Leider from Jacobi Medical Center/North Bronx Healthcare Network will cover topics such as immune activation, depletion of lymphocytes, the role of ART on disease progression, and HIV aging of the immune system. Lunch will be provided. This is a free event. Please RSVP to Anthony at (914) 785-8277 by November 12.