Grantee: Hektoen Institute for Medical Research- CORE Center

Location: Chicago, IL

Priority Population: Mexican men, women and transgender HIV+ or at high risk for HIV

 

Proyecto Promover, implemented by the Ruth M. Rothstein CORE Center, will engage the growing at risk Mexican population in the Chicago EMA by recognizing the unique needs of its multiple subpopulations (heterosexual, bisexual, and gay identified men and women; MSM). The intervention will foster early identification and linkage and also decrease individual and community HIV-related stigma by making HIV testing routine practice through social marketing, community education, and community provider technical assistance. Through community networking and social marketing, a trained promotora will work with existing and new partners to reduce stigma and expand community-based HIV prevention education, HIV testing, counseling and referral. The promotores will make direct linkages to a Patient Navigator (PN) and once engaged in care, the PN will work to retain patients in care by providing culturally-tailored support through motivational interviewing based Charlas (“chats”) that both address sociocultural barriers and provide support in the vein of familismo and personalismo. Taken together, these components of Proyecto Promover will foster the normalization of routine HIV testing and early diagnosis, and strengthen partnerships to increase early identification, linkages, referral and retention.