Beyond buzzwords: toward a community-based model of the integration of HIV treatment and prevention

Abstract

Propelled by increased global access to Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapies, the integration of HIV treatment and prevention has emerged as an important organizing concept of pandemic response. Despite its potential significance for community-based AIDS organizations (CBAOs) little research on integration has been done from a community-based perspective. This paper responds to that gap in the literature. With a view to moving what can be an abstract concept to the level of concrete practice, we offer a community-based model of the integration of HIV treatment and prevention. The model is based on research conducted in 2006–2007 with front-line staff from CBAOs across Canada carried out in partnership with the Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange. The model is grounded in three central dimensions of a community-based perspective on integration deriving from our research: the phenomenological primacy of front-line service work, a comprehensive notion of treatment and prevention, and the importance of social context. The model is intended as a conceptual resource that can assist CBAOs in formulating practical responses to new demands for integrated service provision.

Keywords:

• integration
• prevention
• treatment
• community-based organizations
• HIV

Acknowledgements

We thank all those who participated in our study. We also thank the funders of our research: the Public Health Agency of Canada (6962-15-2005/6510039), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (410-2005-2003 to EM) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (New Investigator Award to E.M.).

Notes

1. One site was lost due to staff changes.