Written by Jennifer Harris, MSc. 10/15/2024
Frannie Peabody Center (FPC) is Maine’s oldest and largest community-based HIV/AIDS organization, providing direct services to those living with HIV/AIDS and free HIV testing and prevention navigation.
HIV diagnoses often come too late in Maine — when infection has progressed to AIDS, typically 10-15 years after transmission. Frannie Peabody Center aims to make testing accessible and routine, enabling earlier detection in a state where people often mistakenly think HIV is not a risk because of the low incidence rate.
Challenge
To increase low-barrier HIV testing in a remote population with limited HIV awareness. Frannie Peabody Center has one dedicated full-time staff member for HIV testing. Three additional staff members are certified by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention for HIV testing when additional capacity is needed.
Approach
When conducting in-person testing, Frannie Peabody Center uses OraQuick Advance® Rapid HIV-1/2 Antibody Tests at their headquarters in Portland, Maine. In the field, they often simultaneously test participants for HCV co-infection using OraQuick® HCV Rapid Antibody Tests, for example at syringe exchange partner sites, recovery centers, shelters, colleges, and community and awareness events. Frannie Peabody Center can run these tests in parallel using a small blood sample from 1 fingerstick with 2 results in 20 minutes.
When in-person testing became difficult during Covid-19, the Maine CDC allowed Frannie Peabody Center to redirect grant monies to purchase and distribute OraQuick® HIV Self-Tests (HIVSTs). FPC recognized that the provision of self-test kits not only addressed access challenges amid Covid-19 but also filled a gap for individuals not previously accessing in-person testing.
Encouraged by this success, FPC looked for additional strategies post-Covid to distribute more OraQuick® HIV Self-Tests and responded to a Federal CDC Foundation request for proposals for community-serving organizations (CSOs) wanting to enhance or expand HIVST programs. Frannie Peabody Center was one of 45 organizations across the country to be awarded this funding in 2022.
“Expanding our program to also include the OraQuick® HIV Self-Test just completely changed the way we were able to deliver services as a small organization,” says Katie Rutherford, executive director of Frannie Peabody Center, “We really wanted to sustain that strategy, because it felt like we had filled a huge gap in reaching people. For instance, 30% of people in the self-testing program indicated they had never taken an HIV test and 35% were unaware of PrEP.”
Partnerships for testing expansion
Frannie Peabody Center then tapped existing CSO partnerships — recovery centers, syringe exchange providers, Federally Qualified Health Centers, community spaces and universities — to increase distribution of the OraQuick® HIV Self-Test. Tests are available at their partner sites and community events and can be ordered and mailed discreetly by clicking a button on Frannie Peabody Center’s website. These efforts collectively led to a 312% increase in HIV testing delivered through FPC across Maine.
Program enhancement since 2019
FPC serves around 400 people annually through case management and housing. The increases shown to the right indicate significant growth in financial assistance provided annually to clients.
Direct client financial assistance helps with critical needs including durable medical equipment, medication copays, emergency food cards, transportation and dental care.
Increase to testing is a direct result of the addition of the OraQuick® HIV Self-Test kits reaching more individuals throughout Maine.
Radio Promotion
In addition, high volume HIVST ordering occurs each year on World AIDS Day thanks to a live testing segment on Maine’s Coast 93.1 radio program. Since 2014, The Blake Show morning program has welcomed Rutherford on the air where she walks hosts Blake and Kelly through the testing procedure. Once the segment began featuring OraQuick® HIV Self-Tests in 2022, FPC saw a significant increase in orders.
“We conduct on-air testing early,” says Rutherford. “... when people are driving to work or school. We’ve seen our online orders shoot up sometimes 400% afterwards. Nearly 35% of those individuals filling out the online form have indicated that they never tested for HIV before. This is extremely impactful.”
Interested listeners can order a free OraQuick® HIV Self-Test via peabodycenter.org after supplying minimal information through the online form. Often listeners will attend FPC’s World AIDS Day in-person event where they can also get tested with the OraQuick® HCV Rapid Antibody Test.
30% of people reported never having been tested for HIV.
An additional 182 household members are supported by these services.
100% of these individuals maintained contact with their manager.
Source: peabodycenter.org. Frannie Peabody Center. Impact Report 2023. [PDF]
Takeaways
Conclusion
There are currently about 1,766 people living with HIV in Maine, and nearly 50 new cases are diagnosed each year. The success of this project highlights the potential for implementing similar community-based HIVST outreach in other underserved communities living in remote areas with low HIV awareness.
OraSure is proud to offer diagnostic devices that support the research and well-being of sexual health. For more information regarding OraSure’s entire infectious disease portfolio, please visit our Rapid Infectious Disease Products.
References:
1 Moorman AC, Bixler D, Teshale EH, et al. (2023 July). Hepatitis C virus-HIV coinfection in the United States among people who inject drugs: Data needed for ending dual epidemics. Public Health Rep. 22:333549231181348. doi: 10.1177/00333549231181348
OraQuick is a registered trademark of OraSure Technologies, Inc. Syphilis Health Check is a trademark of Diagnostics Direct, LLC, used under license by OraSure Technologies, Inc.
