UK BCC: FY19 HIV/AIDS Prevention

The Bluegrass Care Clinic (BCC) at the University of Kentucky seeks to provide quality care and services to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). The Bluegrass Care Clinic (BCC) facilitates medical and social support services for PLWHA living in 63 counties in central and eastern Kentucky and offers a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to promote self-sufficiency and medical treatment success. On-site services to PLWHA include HIV specialty care; primary care; mental health counseling, pharmaceutical adherence, prevention, and nutrition counseling; as well as medical and non-medical case management. The BCC offers HIV testing on-site to at risk persons/partners of the HIV patient population receiving care. Since 2014, the BCC has had 9 % positivity rate (33/365); for youth patients the positivity rate has been 15% (9/59), and as high as 33% in 2017. The BCC currently provides HIV medical care and supportive services for 1612 patients, and is perfectly positioned to continue to provide vital prevention services and reduce the risk of HIV transmission by targeting high-risk PLWHA through the comprehensive care model. This application proposes that the BCC continue to offer an intensive prevention with positives (PWP) program to address the unique needs of PLWHA including disclosure, medication adherence, stigma, and safer sex. The BCC Prevention with Positives program will support two Health Educators to provide HIV and health education, sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening and counseling, and disclosure assistance and partner services. The Health Educators will continue to offer Healthy Relationships a curriculum-based group intervention, as well as individual level interventions, CLEAR (Choosing Life: Empowerment, Actions, Results!) and ARTAS (Anti-Retroviral Treatment and Access to Services). The BCC PWP program will provide support for PLWHA to remain engaged in care and reduce HIV transmission.