Ongoing Research
The REACH CBR Collaborative Centre in HIV/AIDS
Team Lead: Dr. Susan Kirkland (Dalhousie University)
Status: Ongoing to 2016
Status: Ongoing to 2016
The REACH CBR Collaborative Centre in HIV/AIDS began in July of 2012, and is now three years into a five-year term. The goal of the Centre is to build and promote HIV-related community based research (“CBR”) in Canada. We are a national network consisting of HIV/AIDS researchers, people living with HIV, community based organizations, clinicians, and policy-makers. We are structured around seven Regional Core Teams that stretch from coast to coast. Each Core Team is led by a community leader and an academic leader, and decides on its own regional research priorities. A National CBR Leadership Committee identifies opportunities for cross-regional initiatives, encourages Core Teams to collaborate to advance shared goals, and ensures that all Core Teams receive appropriate and targeted support.
Grinding Against HIV Prevention Discourse: A critical exploration of risk among user of mobile gay cruising apps
Principal Investigator: Dr. Matthew Numer (Dalhousie University)
Status: Ongoing to 2017
Status: Ongoing to 2017
This project seeks to understand how men who have sex with men (MSM) use social networking applications (apps) to engage in sexual encounters and how these encounters may involve risk taking behaviours. In 2009, Grindr was introduced as a mobile app for smartphones to allow MSM to see the profiles of other men in their vicinity (using GPS technology) and to use the “chat” function to talk to them. This app is commonly known as a “hook-up” app for people to contact other men for the purposes of sexual encounters. This app quickly became the most popular of its kind and as of 2014 there have been 10 million user downloads since its inception and 5 million accessing monthly. The challenge for those working in HIV and STI prevention is that despite the education campaign to reduce HIV and other STIs among MSMs, infections continue to occur at a higher rate among this subgroup of the population. They believe that the increased availability of sexual encounters through mobile devices may contribute to the continued spread of HIV and for the recent outbreak of other STIs among MSM. This research seeks to provide new insight into how mobile apps can be (re)considered in HIV and STIs prevention.
A New APPROACH to HIV Testing: Adaptation of POCT for Pharmacies to Reduce risk and Optimize Access to Care in HIV
Principal Investigator: Dr. Deborah Kelley (Memorial University of Newfoundland)
Status: Ongoing to 2017
Status: Ongoing to 2017
An estimated 21% of Canadians with HIV are unaware of their infection. There is a need to improve access to HIV testing to detect infections earlier so individuals can access care early and take steps to prevent transmission to others. Barriers to HIV testing include limited access or reluctance to go to traditional testing sites (doctor's offices and sexually transmitted infection clinics), and the lengthy wait time to receive test results from standard laboratory-based HIV testing (usually 1-2 weeks). These deterrents are particularly significant for those at highest risk of infection, who may be socially marginalized or stigmatized. In rural areas, HIV testing may only be available through doctor's offices and hospitals, yet many Canadians do not have access to a family physician. Pharmacists are among the most trusted and accessible healthcare providers, and are well positioned to improve access to HIV testing. Point of care tests for HIV are easy to administer and results are available within minutes, making them ideal for use in the community pharmacy setting. Point of care testing (POCT) by pharmacists can ensure individuals receive their test results, and facilitate timely linkages to care and treatment. This adaptation grant will look at factors influencing the acceptability and feasibility of pharmacist-provided rapid POCT for HIV in two Canadian provinces, including pharmacies in both urban and rural areas. The effectiveness of pharmacist-delivered POCT will be considered from a variety of perspectives including people living with or at risk of HIV, as well as pharmacists as the service providers.
Mainline Needle Exchange Evaluation
Team Lead: Dr. Susan Kirkland (Dalhousie University)
Status: Ongoing to 2016
Status: Ongoing to 2016
Since the fall of 2015, the Atlantic Interdisciplinary Research Network for Social and Behavioural Issues in Hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS (AIRN) has been working with a steering group of stakeholders to conduct an evaluation of Mainline Needle Exchange. Mainline commissioned the evaluation in order to document program operations and impacts, as well as current and emerging needs. It also sought considerations and recommendations to increase the efficiency, positive impacts and outcomes of programming. The evaluation was informed by three key sources, including a review of key documents, an analysis of the program’s database, and key informant interviews with staff, clients and partners. The report will be officially released later in 2016..
“Overdose Prevention Training and Take Home Naloxone” Pilot Project
Team Lead: Cindy MacIsaac (Direction 180) and Diane Bailey (Mainline Needle Exchange)
Status: Ongoing to 2016
Status: Ongoing to 2016
Since the fall of 2015, the Atlantic Interdisciplinary Research Network for Social and Behavioural Issues in Hepatitis C and HIV/AIDS (AIRN) has been working with a steering group of stakeholders to conduct an evaluation of Mainline Needle Exchange. Mainline commissioned the evaluation in order to document program operations and impacts, as well as current and emerging needs. It also sought considerations and recommendations to increase the efficiency, positive impacts and outcomes of programming. The evaluation was informed by three key sources, including a review of key documents, an analysis of the program’s database, and key informant interviews with staff, clients and partners. The report will be officially released later in 2016..
Frailty in People Aging With Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection
Principal Investigator: Dr. Susan Kirkland (Dalhousie University)
Status: Ongoing to 2016
Status: Ongoing to 2016
The increasing life spans of people infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) reflect enormous treatment successes and present new challenges related to aging. Even with suppression of viral loads and immune reconstitution, HIV-positive individuals exhibit excess vulnerability to multiple health problems that are not AIDS-defining. With the accumulation of multiple health problems, it is likely that many people aging with treated HIV infection may be identified as frail. Studies of frailty in people with HIV are currently limited but suggest that frailty might be feasible and useful as an integrative marker of multisystem vulnerability, for organizing ca`re and for comprehensively measuring the impact of illness and treatment on overall health status. This review explains how frailty has been conceptualized and measured in the general population, critically reviews emerging data on frailty in people with HIV infection, and explores how the concept of frailty might inform HIV research and care.
