Acceptability and feasibility of HIV self-testing integration into publicly-funded HIV prevention services: Perspectives from HIV testing agency staff that provide HIV testing services to sexual and gender minority youth in Philadelphia County.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Increasing HIV testing among priority populations is a primary strategy of the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative. In October 2019, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH) established a program to distribute publicly-funded HIV self-testing (HIVST) kits to Philadelphia County residents aged 16 years and older.

Methods

Through a community-academic partnership, we used a cross-sectional sequential transformative mixed-methods design to examine perceived organizational factors, opportunities, and challenges to HIVST integration among agency staff at PDPH-funded agencies early in the COVID-19 pandemic due to decreased access to traditional in-person HIV testing services with a focus on agencies whose client populations included sexual and gender minority c

SUBMITTER: Watson DL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11936223 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature