伊利诺伊州立大学护理诊所改善 LGBTQ+ 性健康

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UI Health Wellness Clinic marks a successful year  One year after opening, a UIC College of Nursing and UI Health clinic based at Center on Halsted has brought HIV prevention and STI treatment services to more than 100 of the center’s LGBTQ+ community members.

UIC Nursing clinical assistant professor Karen Cotler, DNP, FNP-BC, FAANP, is lead provider for the weekly clinic, which offers HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a medication-based strategy to prevent HIV infection, and universal STI screening. The clinic opened in January 2021.

“It’s been a success,” Cotler says. “We’re getting a lot of people on PrEP who might not have been on it otherwise, and we’re treating a lot of STIs. I’m proud of a service that really does make an impact on infectious disease in the community.”

The clinic is aligned with the state of Illinois’ Getting to Zero initiative, which aims to end the HIV epidemic in the state by 2030.

“A PrEP clinic is what we see as the next evolution in HIV/AIDS care that we can be part of to get Illinois to zero new infections by 2030,” says Kim Fountain, chief administrative officer at Center on Halsted. “UIC Nursing has always been a trusted partner and is the perfect match for what we want this clinic to be.”

Center on Halsted, located in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood, is a comprehensive LGBTQ+ community center that offers cooking classes, yoga, group therapy and more—and is visited by more than 1,000 community members each day.

The center has long offered walk-in HIV testing, but previously referred community members to other sites for further treatment. Now, individuals who test negative—a prerequisite for PrEP treatment—are referred to the in-house clinic to be evaluated as candidates for PrEP.

Prevention begins with convenience, comfort  Having the clinic located at the center offers both convenience and comfort, Fountain says.

“You can make your appointment before your volleyball match, or before you go to your reading group or your trans safety group,” she says. “The on-site clinic normalizes getting an HIV test, PrEP treatment or doing STI screening, weaving it into daily life.”

In its first year, there have been more than 250 visits to the clinic, which is open once a week. This includes follow-up visits for more than 100 unique patients.

Cotler says having an STI makes an individual more susceptible to HIV. With the help of a UIC FNP student, Cotler tests the patients for STIs every three months. Through that universal screening, they’ve found a 30% positivity rate for asymptomatic STIs among the clinic’s visitors, which they’ve been able to treat.

“One of the benefits of having Dr. Cotler running the clinic is her insistence on doing universal STI screenings at the same time that she screens for PrEP,” Fountain says. “Employing this method of screening means she is much more likely to identify an STI and help get people into care than more traditional screenings. Our hope is that this clinic will become known for this type of LGBTQ+ competent, high-quality care.”

The UIC College of Nursing has a strong history with the Center on Halsted. Charles Yingling, DNP ’12, MS ’05, former UIC Nursing associate dean for practice and partnerships, put together a proposal for the clinic in 2018, and BSN and DNP students have conducted health promotion projects there.

Cotler and Yingling will be delivering a presentation about the clinic at the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Doctoral Education pre-conference on faculty practice later this month.

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UI Health 健康诊所标志着成功的一年  

开设一年后，位于 Halsted 中心的 UIC 护理学院和UI 健康诊所为该中心的 100 多名 LGBTQ+ 社区成员提供了 HIV 预防和 STI 治疗服务。

UIC 护理临床助理教授Karen Cotler、DNP、FNP-BC、FAANP 是每周诊所的主要提供者，该诊所提供 HIV 暴露前预防 (PrEP)、一种基于药物的预防 HIV 感染的策略和普遍的 STI 筛查。该诊所于 2021 年 1 月开业。

“这是成功的，”科特勒说。“我们让很多人参与 PrEP，否则他们可能不会参与，我们正在治疗很多性传播感染。我为一项确实对社区传染病产生影响的服务感到自豪。”

该诊所与伊利诺伊州的“归零倡议”保持一致，该倡议旨在到 2030 年结束该州的艾滋病毒流行。

“我们认为，PrEP 诊所是 HIV/AIDS 护理的下一个发展方向，我们可以参与其中，以使伊利诺伊州到 2030 年新感染病例为零，”Halsted 中心首席行政官 Kim Fountain 说。“UIC Nursing 一直是值得信赖的合作伙伴，非常适合我们希望这家诊所成为的样子。”

霍尔斯特德中心位于芝加哥的湖景社区，是一个综合性 LGBTQ+ 社区中心，提供烹饪课程、瑜伽、团体治疗等，每天有 1,000 多名社区成员参观。

该中心长期以来一直提供步入式 HIV 检测，但之前曾将社区成员转介到其他地点进行进一步治疗。现在，检测呈阴性的个体（PrEP 治疗的先决条件）被转诊至内部诊所，以评估其是否适合 PrEP。

预防始于便利、舒适  Fountain 说，将诊所设在中心既方便又舒适。

“你可以在排球比赛之前预约，或者在你去阅读小组或跨性别安全小组之前预约，”她说。“现场诊所使 HIV 检测、PrEP 治疗或性病筛查正常化，将其融入日常生活。”

第一年，每周开放一次的诊所就诊人数已超过 250 人次。这包括对 100 多名独特患者的随访。

Cotler 说，患有 STI 会使个体更容易感染 HIV。在 UIC FNP 学生的帮助下，科特勒每三个月对患者进行一次性传播感染检测。通过这种普遍筛查，他们发现诊所的访客中有 30% 的无症状性传播感染阳性率，他们已经能够治疗。

“让 Cotler 博士经营诊所的好处之一是她坚持在筛查 PrEP 的同时进行普遍的 STI 筛查，”Fountain 说，“采用这种筛查方法意味着她比更传统的筛查更有可能识别性传播感染并帮助人们接受治疗。我们希望这家诊所能够以这种类型的 LGBTQ+ 能力和高质量护理而闻名。”

UIC 护理学院与 Halsted 中心有着悠久的历史。Charles Yingling，DNP '12，MS '05，前 UIC 护理实践和合作副院长，为 2018 年的诊所提出了一份提案，BSN 和 DNP 学生在那里进行了健康促进项目。

Cotler 和 Yingling 将在本月晚些时候的美国护理学院博士教育学院协会教师实践会议上发表关于诊所的演讲。

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