Ending Transmission of HIV, HCV, and STDs and Overdose in Rural Communities of People Who Inject Drugs (ETHIC)
Ending Transmission of HIV, HCV, and STDs and Overdose in Rural Communities of People Who Inject Drugs (ETHIC)
This study will evaluate the referral to harm reduction services (HRS) including syringe services, naloxone overdose prevention, substance use treatment referral, HIV, HCV, and STD testing and referral and linkage to care through capacity building of existing programs through client services data.
This is a prospective longitudinal Type 1 Hybrid Implementation Effectiveness Study on the expansion of harm reduction services for people who inject drugs (PWID) and people who use opioids (PWUO) residing in high risk areas of rural southern Illinois. This study record describes one component of the larger Ending transmission of HIV, HCV, and STDs and overdose in rural communities of people who inject drugs (ETHIC) study Community Response Plan (CRP) framework, specifically the expansion of harm reduction services intervention (HRS). The aim is to assess the effectiveness of expansion of evidenced based harm reduction services through our CRP framework comprising: a) geographically targeted recruitment based on hot spot and vulnerability analyses, b) community engagement, c) recruitment via Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS), d) expanded surveillance for HIV and HCV, and e) concomitant HCV and opioid use treatment capacity expansion through the Extension of Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) model. Examination of facilitators and barriers impacting implementation of service delivery is evaluated through mixed methods process evaluation. The Type 1 Hybrid design is supported by conditions including the existing evidence based for benefits and minimal harm of "harm reduction services" and strong base for applicability of this intervention in the study setting (ie rural opioid use)
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