Enhanced Telehealth Case Management Plus Emergency Financial Assistance for Homeless-Experienced People Living With HIV During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2020.306152
• Publication Date: 2021-03-18T20:00:45Z
• Authors: Jennifer K. Brody; Serena Rajabiun; H. Joslyn Strupp ...; Travis Baggett
• Keywords: Male; Primary Health Care; 1. No poverty; COVID-19; HIV Infections; Middle Aged; Telemedicine; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Socioeconomic Factors; Ill-Housed Persons; Electronic Health Records; Humans; Female; Case Management; Delivery of Health Care; Boston; Retrospective Studies

Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, in Boston, Massachusetts, implemented an intensive telehealth case management intervention combined with emergency financial assistance for 270 homeless-experienced people living with HIV (PLWH) to reduce COVID-19 transmission and promote HIV care retention during Boston’s first pandemic peak (March 16–May 31, 2020). Our telehealth model successfully maintained prepandemic case management and primary care contact levels, highlighting the importance of such programs in supporting the care engagement of homeless-experienced PLWH and addressing the dual COVID-19 and HIV epidemics.