Important Links — One of the critical but challenging components of HIV prevention and treatment is linking newly diagnosed HIV-positive individuals to medical care. In an effort to improve these link rates, a team of researchers from Einstein’s Preventive Intervention Research Center (PIRC), Jacobi Medical Center, and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, led by Dr. Laurie Bauman, collaborated to identify the factors that hinder or promote linking individuals to care. Data gathered from The Bronx Knows, an initiative that tested more than 600,000 Bronx residents for HIV over the past three years, revealed that deterrents included difficulties navigating the healthcare system, social stigma, mental illness and homelessness. Their findings appear in the November 2013 Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. Dr. Bauman is professor of pediatrics at Einstein and director of PIRC. Other Einstein authors on the paper included Dr. Yvette Calderon, Dr. Rosy Chhabra, Angelic Rivera, Jamie Sclafane and Dana Watnick.
Posted on: Tuesday, January 14, 2014