Adoption of HIV counseling and testing following completion of randomized clinical trial.

Substance abuse continues to be a major factor in the transmission of HIV/AIDS via injection and sexual risk behavior. Encouraging persons at risk for HIV to be tested is one of the main HIV prevention strategies in the United States. Previous studies have shown that many substance abuse treatment programs do not offer on-site HIV testing. The Lexington-Richland Alcohol and Drug Council (LRADAC), a community-based treatment program (CTP) in the Southern Consortium Node, was one of twelve sites that participated in a randomized clinical trial designed to evaluate different strategies to increase the acceptance of HIV testing and reduce HIV risk behaviors among patients in substance abuse treatment (protocol CTN-0032, “HIV Rapid Testing and Counseling”).

Following completion of the study, LRADAC adopted for clinical practice the counseling and testing procedures used in the trial. This poster describes the pilot program LRADAC developed to facilitate their initial implementation of the procedures. LRADAC’s adoption of the interventions studied in CTN-0032 provides another example of the way in which participation in research can facilitate programmatic changes in community treatment programs — an example of a successful bridging of the “science to practice” gap.

Related protocols: CTN-0032