March 16, 2016

Groundbreaking Report IDs Unique Needs of Women Living With HIV

EDGE READ TIME: 3 MIN.

"What would improve your ability to stay in care?"�That is the fundamental question 14 researchers, all women living with HIV, asked 180 participants from seven different geographic areas in a community-based participatory�research project spearheaded by Positive Women's Network -- USA (PWN-USA), a national membership body of women with HIV. Participants were then asked about which specific services they needed, which services they currently had access to, and how well those services were meeting their needs.

Among the key findings:

  • Women living with HIV are living in extreme poverty.�89.7 percent�of the women surveyed were�below 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level�(FPL), with�73.8 percent below 100 percent FPL.

  • Poverty affected more than just their ability to pay for drugs and medical services.�Fifty percent�of respondents who had�missed a medical appointment�in the past year cited�transportation�as the reason.

  • Seventeen percent�of respondents had been diagnosed with�post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)�and�64.9 percent�with�depression.�Cost, lack of coverage, lack of available services or waitlists�for services presented significant barriers for many women in accessing these services.

    While most respondents had been screened for cervical cancer according to current guidelines,�only 40 percent�of women of reproductive age had been�asked if they needed birth control;�just 39.4 percent�had been asked if they�wanted to get pregnant. And shockingly,�38.1 percent�of participants had not been told by a provider that�achieving viral suppression would dramatically reduce risk of transmission.

    The Ryan White CARE Act, first passed by Congress in 1990, has been a life-saving safety net program for hundreds of thousands of women living with HIV, serving as a payer of last resort for medical care and the supportive services that so many people living with HIV-particularly women, who are so often heads of household and responsible for multiple generations living under one roof-need in order to stay engaged in care. The Ryan White Program is due to be reauthorized and remains desperately needed, particularly in states that have refused to expand Medicaid.
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    The Ryan White Program is working well, but the needs of people with HIV have changed and some women are still simply not able to access the services they need to stay in continuous care.

    "One thing that struck me is how many women need counseling and mental health assistance, but don't know how to go about getting it," said Pat Kelly of Orangeburg, South Carolina, one of the community-based researchers on the project.

    For others, stigma or inadequate knowledge among medical providers means women living with HIV are not receiving comprehensive sexual and reproductive care that affirms their rights and desires to have families post-diagnosis.

    "I believe if more providers discussed the option of treatment as prevention with their patients, especially female patients, it would open up more opportunities for the patients to consider starting a family safely. For a lot of women living with HIV in their childbearing years, having a family is important. Many of them still think it's not possible to do safely. But if this conversation starts happening with their providers, it will give them a choice and hope. All women should have that choice," explained Evany Turk, research team member from Chicago, IL.
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    by EDGE

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