Course 1K - Effective Strategies for Treatment of HIV in Persons with Concurrent SUD and Serious Mental Disorders

Course overview

This course, sponsored online by CEU By Net and copyrighted and published in the public domain by SAMHSA in 2020, contains current, research-validated strategies for prevention and treatment of persons who are living with HIV concurrent with SUD and/or Mental Disorders. The guide examines currently emerging and best practices for working with this population, and identifies challenges and strategies for implementation. The course presents three currently operational client-centered, harm-reduction programs in diverse settings that have demonstrated effectiveness in treating persons with concurrent HIV and Substance Use and Mental Disorders, as well as prevention of HIV in this vulnerable behavioral health population. The model programs feature practices to increase uptake and improve adherence to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), syringe exchange programs (SEP), Contingency Management (CM), Patient Navigation (PN), and linkage and retention. The Course is extracted from the larger SAMHSA document entitled 'Prevention and Treatment of HIV Among People Living with Substance Use and/or Mental Disorders' -- published by SAMHSA in the public domain in 2020 with a May 2021 forward by Elinore F. McCance-Katz, MD, Ph.D., Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Goals of This Course: 1. Learn the details of three research-validated service delivery models in diverse settings in which HIV can be effectively prevented and treated in persons living with HIV and concurrent SUD and/ or Mental Disorder. 2. Learn the effective approach to encouraging uptake and consistent compliance with Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) in various populations. 3. Understand the roles of both Biomedical Intervention and Psychosocial Intervention in the prevention and treatment of HIV in persons with concurrent behavioral health disorders. 4. Learn how Syringe Exchange programs are successfully integrated within communities and the most effective approach to implementation with persons with concurrent behavioral health disorders. 5. Learn the role of Peer Health Navigation (PHN) and Contingency Management (CM) in achieving behavioral and biomedical targets in transgender women of color who are at risk for or have HIV and concurrent behavioral health disorders. 6. Know why it is critical that programs primarily serving people with serious mental illness assess their clients for HIV risk, conduct HIV testing, and provide integrated HIV prevention and treatment services to address their complex needs.