¡Solo Se Vive Una Vez! (You Only Live Once)

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Project Title

¡Solo Se Vive Una Vez! (You Only Live Once): A Campaign to Improve HIV Testing Among Latinx in Baltimore

Project Summary

One fifth of Latinx with HIV in the US are unaware of their infection, and Latinx are more likely to be diagnosed late than any other racial/ethnic groups. Barriers to HIV screening among Latinx in Baltimore include HIV stigma, cultural/linguistic discordance, lack of insurance, and fear of deportation. We created and implemented the Solo Se Vive Una Vez campaign to increase HIV screening rates among Latinx in Baltimore by addressing these barriers, in partnership with the Baltimore City Health Department (BCHD). It is a city-wide public health campaign that includes a website (www.solovive.org) offering rapid HIV testing with bilingual outreach workers, social media, community events, radio advertisements, and more.

The campaign was evaluated through cross sectional surveys and electronic medical record (EMR) review from the BCHD. The campaign positively influenced the majority of testers exposed to it to get tested, including Latinx with high risk sexual behaviors. It achieved comparable rates of exposure to other campaigns targeting HIV screening rates in Latinx. The majority of patients had not heard of PrEP and were provided information on it.

Current study activities include analysis of BCHD surveillance data to assess the intervention’s effect on numbers of Latinx getting tested for HIV, expansion of campaign reach in terms of geography and LGBT populations, and promotion of PrEP.

Project Details