1. Measuring Unmet Needs among Persons Living with HIV at Different Stages of the Care Continuum
- Author
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Anya Agopian, James Peterson, Meredith Haddix, Thurka Sangaramoorthy, Farah Mouhanna, Michael Kharfen, Hannah Yellin, Kerri Dorsey, Amanda D. Castel, and Hibo Abdi
- Subjects
Gerontology ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Social Psychology ,Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) ,HIV Infections ,medicine.disease_cause ,Article ,Unmet needs ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,medicine ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Continuum of care ,health care economics and organizations ,Health Services Needs and Demand ,030505 public health ,Food security ,Public health ,Qualitative interviews ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Continuity of Patient Care ,Care Continuum ,Health psychology ,Infectious Diseases ,Housing ,0305 other medical science ,Psychology - Abstract
Unmet needs can impede optimal care engagement, impacting the health and well-being of people living with HIV (PLWH); yet, whether unmet needs differ by care engagement status is not well understood. Using surveys and qualitative interviews, we examined and compared unmet needs for PLWH (n = 172) at different levels of care engagement. Unmet needs varied only slightly by care status. Survey findings revealed that provision of housing, emergency financial assistance, employment assistance, and food security were the greatest unmet need; for those in care, housing was the greatest unmet need, whereas for those sporadically in care or out of care, employment assistance was the greatest unmet needs. Qualitative interviews likewise illustrated that a lack of financial resources including insurance, housing, employment, and transportation presented barriers to care engagement across all care groups. Our findings indicate that unmet needs among PLWH are complex and multi-faceted across care engagement status.
- Published
- 2021
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