Lessons Learned from County Jail HIV Risk Factor Screenings
Abstract
HIV risk and awareness is imperative to address and understand among incarcerated populations because they experience higher rates of HIV than the general population. This presentation will describe lessons learned from recruitment of county jail detainees using screening tools/surveys, focused on the assessment of HIV risk factors. These considerations are relevant to future research and clinical interventions with incarcerated populations.
Proposal Summary
Individuals in criminal justice settings are disproportionately HIV positive or at high-risk for HIV infection. This increased risk of HIV infection in incarcerated populations has been linked back to factors such as: substance use, poverty, sexually transmitted infections, risky sexual behaviors, and mental illness. However, despite its importance, little is known about this population’s awareness of preventative measures such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) - in part because of the challenges of working within criminal justice settings. Implementing a jail-wide HIV risk factor and PrEP awareness population screener warrants special considerations and understandings of county jail settings. While working within the largest county jail in Arkansas it is important to note factors related to jail populations being transient in nature, compared to prison populations, because the detainees are held for relatively short periods of time prior to sentencing. Here, we highlight considerations and lessons learned for practitioners and researchers who are planning to screen for HIV risk and awareness in the county jail setting. Lessons learned will focus on the following topical areas: (1) developing strategic and bidirectional partnerships, (2) adequately assessing and complementing organizational flow, and (3) within the jail setting; then, we will describe the various data collection and recruitment methods. Working within this unique county jail setting and with an incarcerated population, has both its highlights and obstacles. Through this poster presentation all of these lessons will be addressed along with recommendations for how this information can be utilized moving forward in future attempts to work with rural incarcerated populations who are at risk for HIV infection.
Relevance And Significance
This presentation relates with Programs working with marginalized populations because of the nature of incarcerated populations being marginalized and dealing with many factors related to the social determinants of health. In addition, the lessons learned involve Innovative strategies and tools for prevention and intervention in rural communities.
Session Format
Poster Session
Keywords
HIV Screening, Incarceration, Criminal Justice
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Neher, Taylor L. MPH; Zielinski, Melissa J. PhD; Marshall, S. Alexandra PhD; Brinkley-Rubinstein, Lauren PhD; and Zaller, Nickolas D. PhD, "Lessons Learned from County Jail HIV Risk Factor Screenings" (2018). 9th Annual Rural HIV Research and Training Conference (2014-2019). 26.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/ruralhiv/2018/2018/26
Lessons Learned from County Jail HIV Risk Factor Screenings
HIV risk and awareness is imperative to address and understand among incarcerated populations because they experience higher rates of HIV than the general population. This presentation will describe lessons learned from recruitment of county jail detainees using screening tools/surveys, focused on the assessment of HIV risk factors. These considerations are relevant to future research and clinical interventions with incarcerated populations.
