Telehealth for HIV Care Services in South Carolina: Utilization, Barriers, and Promotion Strategies During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Overview

Journal AIDS Behav

Specialty Infectious Diseases

Date 2021 Jun 26

PMID 34173137

Citations 30

Authors

Valerie Yelverton

Shan Qiao

Sharon Weissman

Bankole Olatosi

Xiaoming Li

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

To ensure continuing HIV care services during the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth has been recommended and implemented in numerous HIV-related facilities. This study aims to understand telehealth utilization for HIV care services in South Carolina (SC), identify barriers to telehealth during COVID-19, and investigate strategies to facilitate remote HIV care delivery. In-depth interviews with 11 management personnel from 8 HIV-related facilities in SC were analyzed using thematic analysis. Utilizations of telehealth were diverse in delivering medical and non-medical HIV care services. Barriers included technological challenges, digital literacy, client/provider experiences, low socio-economic status of client population, and reimbursement issues. Various strategies were mentioned for promoting telehealth utilization, from client empowerment, provider training to improved organizational readiness. For successful telehealth use during and after COVID-19, it is necessary to continue efforts to promote telehealth and remove barriers to telehealth by implementing inclusive multi-level strategies for non-technologically savvy or disadvantaged populations living with HIV.

Citing Articles

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