Blacks living in the southern United States are disproportionately affected by HIV infection. Identifying and treating those who are infected is an important strategy for reducing HIV transmission. A model for integrating rapid HIV screening into community health centers was modified and used to guide implementation of a testing program in a primary care setting in a small North Carolina town serving a rural Black population. Anonymous surveys were completed by 138 adults who were offered an HIV test; of these, 61% were female and 89.9% were Black. One hundred patients (72%) accepted the test. Among those Black survey respondents who accepted an offer of testing, 58% were women. The most common reason for declining an HIV test was lack of perceived risk; younger patients were more likely to get tested. Implementation of the testing model posed challenges with time, data collection, and patient flow.
Keywords: African American; Black; HIV; South; primary care; rural; screening.
Copyright © 2014 Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.