The study investigates the effects of COVID-19 on black and Latin individuals living with HIV

February 22, 2021

A research team led by Maria Gwaz of the New York University Silver School of Social Work understands how a pandemic can endanger individuals as the COVID-19 pandemic caused disproportionate damage to low-income colored races. I tried to do it. The unfavorable consequences, and how they successfully adapt and deal with the new pandemic, have focused on the background of the low socio-economic status that has lived with HIV for over a decade.

In a new study published by the team, HIV care, HIV drug use, and overall in the early stages of a pandemic through a structured assessment of 100 low-income black and Latin individuals who have lived with HIV. We are investigating the impact of COVID-19 on our involvement in good health. 17 years on average. Twenty-six of these long-term HIV survivors were interviewed in detail.

The lead author, Marya Gwadz, is a professor and vice dean of research at the Silver School of Social Work and is responsible for the Intervention Innovations Team Lab (ITT-Lab), which conducted this research. She is also the Deputy Director of Interdisciplinary Studies. The core method of the Center for Substance Use and HIV Research (CDUHR) at New York University’s Faculty of Global Public Health.

This study was published online by Springer Nature..

We were interested not only in risks, but also in identifying “indigenous peoples’ coping strategies” and gaps that could be addressed to improve future readiness in the event of a crisis. We define these as effective ways to manage the health and well-being of the COVID-19 era emerging from the community, but they are not necessarily strategies that researchers and experts have come up with. “

Marya Gwadz, Principal Writer, Professor, Associate Dean of Research, Silver School of Social Work, Head, Intervention Innovations Team Lab

In the survey results:

• Participants were early adopters of COVID-related public health recommendations, such as social distance, and sophisticated approaches to collecting and interpreting public health information from a variety of sources. Trust in local sources was higher than in trust in various federal sources.
• Their experience and knowledge of living in an HIV pandemic and poverty was often applied to the management of COVID-19. For example, participants knew how to “hustle” food and other resources and frequently shared these resources with others in the community. However, because they had to hustle rather than stay at home, they were at increased risk of being exposed to COVID-19.
• HIV care visits were generally canceled as a result of risk factors caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as inadequate access to certain telemedicines and food insecurity- “But overall, Involvement in HIV care and the use of antiretroviral therapy is not seriously disruptive. ”Similarly, booking and support for drug use treatments, including a 12-step meeting, was initially canceled and eventually to a virtual platform. It was switched, but not all participants had access to these services.
• Most people have mobile or internet services (but not both) through the “Obama Telephone” program (ie, the Federal Lifeline Assistance Program) and generally have the equipment, access, or technology to participate in telemedicine appointments. I didn’t have the skills. To prevent this same problem from occurring in future crises, the Federal Lifeline Assistance Program needs to be strengthened and provided with technical training and support.
• The early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic coincided with the re-emergence of the racial justice movement. Participants included structural racism, the disproportionate adverse effects of COVID-19 on the color community, and similar racial / ethnic disparities in morbidity and mortality associated with HIV prevalence and HIV epidemics. I drew a direct line between and.

The study also impacts national AIDS / AIDS strategies on preparing for future crises, including how they can serve as a model to prevent COVID-19 from becoming “another pandemic of the poor.” Checking it up.