TY - JOUR
T1 - HIV and sexually transmitted infection testing among high-risk youths
T2 - Supporting Positive Opportunities with Teens (SPOT) youth center
AU - Plax, Katie
AU - Garbutt, Jane
AU - Kaushik, Gaurav N.
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2015 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2015/7/1
Y1 - 2015/7/1
N2 - Objectives. We investigated the development of and service utilization at Supporting Positive Opportunities with Teens (SPOT)- A community-based health and social service facility in St. Louis, Missouri, for youths that focuses on increasing HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing. Methods. We identified the US-based, co-located youth health and social service models that guided the establishment of the SPOT. We analyzed the first 5 years (2008-2013) of service delivery and utilization data. Results. During the study period, the SPOT provided services for 8233 youths in 37 480 visits. The 5 most utilized services included HIV and STI screening, food, transportation, contraception, and casemanagement. A total of 9812 gonorrhea and chlamydia screenings revealed 1379 (14.1%) cases of chlamydia and 437 (4.5%) cases of gonorrhea, and 5703 HIV tests revealed 59 HIV infections (1.0%); 93.0% of patients found to have an STIwere treated within a 5-day window. Conclusions. Co-locating health and social services in informal community settings attracts high-risk youths to utilize services and can prove instrumental in reducing STI burden in this population.
AB - Objectives. We investigated the development of and service utilization at Supporting Positive Opportunities with Teens (SPOT)- A community-based health and social service facility in St. Louis, Missouri, for youths that focuses on increasing HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing. Methods. We identified the US-based, co-located youth health and social service models that guided the establishment of the SPOT. We analyzed the first 5 years (2008-2013) of service delivery and utilization data. Results. During the study period, the SPOT provided services for 8233 youths in 37 480 visits. The 5 most utilized services included HIV and STI screening, food, transportation, contraception, and casemanagement. A total of 9812 gonorrhea and chlamydia screenings revealed 1379 (14.1%) cases of chlamydia and 437 (4.5%) cases of gonorrhea, and 5703 HIV tests revealed 59 HIV infections (1.0%); 93.0% of patients found to have an STIwere treated within a 5-day window. Conclusions. Co-locating health and social services in informal community settings attracts high-risk youths to utilize services and can prove instrumental in reducing STI burden in this population.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84930842398&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2105/AJPH.2015.302569
DO - 10.2105/AJPH.2015.302569
M3 - Article
C2 - 25973833
AN - SCOPUS:84930842398
VL - 105
SP - 1394
EP - 1398
JO - American Journal of Public Health
JF - American Journal of Public Health
SN - 0090-0036
IS - 7
ER -