Community and Provider Perspectives on Molecular HIV Surveillance and Cluster Detection and Response for HIV Prevention: Qualitative Findings From King County, Washington.
Alic G Shook, Susan E Buskin, Matthew Golden and 4 others
PMID 35500058WHAT IT FOUND
Community members trusted molecular HIV surveillance more when they already had positive relationships with public health clinics.
They feared the word surveillance, disclosure, violence, stigma, and criminalization, and wanted clear, confidential messaging.
Key findings
01Community members' comfort with molecular HIV surveillance depended on their prior relationship with public health; positive clinic relationships made it seem useful, while distrust made surveillance language alarming.
02Many community members had not heard of molecular HIV surveillance and confused it with partner services, while providers used more technical definitions; social service providers shared community concerns about wording.
03Participants worried that cluster investigations could increase blame, disclosure, violence, stigma, and legal risk, and wanted anonymized identifiers, protective services, and clear confidentiality messaging.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Community members were recruited from one clinic, and many already had positive relationships with staff, so views may not represent people not engaged in care. No community member had a recent HIV diagnosis, and no transgender participants were included, despite their prominence in discussions about surveillance ethics. Providers all had existing relationships with public health, so they may know molecular surveillance more than providers without those links. Community members generally had low understanding of molecular surveillance, so findings reflect reactions after brief explanations and hand-drawn graphics. The study reports perceptions and themes. It does not test whether molecular surveillance or cluster response improves HIV outcomes.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflicts of interest. The study was supported by NIH extramural research.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as evidence that molecular HIV surveillance or cluster response improves HIV outcomes. The study describes perceptions of 19 people and does not test effectiveness.