Curing Hepatitis C Among People of Color Living with HIV
People with HIV are living longer these days, but those who also have Hepatitis C do not enjoy the same longevity and the quality of life. New treatments could easily rectify this, but there are multiple barriers to achieving cure in the co-infected people, including health disparities based on race and ethnicity.
What is project ConnQuER HepC?
Project ConnQuER HepC stands for Connecticut Quantification, Evaluation, and Response: HIV/HCV Elimination in Persons of Color. The goals of the project are:
Cure Hep C in persons with HIV (PWH) in Connecticut, particularly persons of color through improvements in the Hep C cascade of careImprove partnerships with key stakeholdersImprove surveillance mechanisms statewide for HIV/Hep C coinfectionThroughout the duration of this project, Yale School of Medicine (YSM) AIDS Program has collaborated with CT Department of Public Health (DPH) and with clinical and non-clinical providers from Multi-site clinics, Substance Use Disorder (SUD) clinics, and Syringe Services Programs (SSP).
The efforts of Project ConnQuER HEPC concentrated on four areas:
Education
surveillance
Clinical
SUD/SSP
RESOURCES FOR PATIENTS AND NON-PRESCRIBING PROVIDERS
ConnQuER HepC App: Educational and Care Companion App
The ConnQuER HepC mobile app has been designed to inform about the clinical condition of Hepatitis C and to foster more efficient conversations between patients and health care providers. The app is not intended to replace professional care.
Apple and the Apple logo are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.
Educational materials are broken up into five sections and follow a typical patient care experience for Hepatitis C, from diagnosis through treatment and though until after is completed. The materials are presented as a series of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) with Answers, where app users are given a quiz and a progress bar tracks user progress through each step.
Main Features:
– Toggle between Spanish and English versions of the app.
– Access the app through the web browser instead of using their phone by going to tinyurl.com/connquerhepc.
– A progress bar tracks the user’s progress as they complete the quizzes after each section.
The ConnQuER HepC app was designed by Love Local Design and developed by Amston Pro Services.
Resources for Prescribing Providers
View our Resources page to find out more information.
Public health surveillance
What is public health surveillance?
Public health surveillance is an ongoing collection, analysis, and interpretation of health-related data that is used to:
In Connecticut, Hepatitis C and HIV are reportable diseases. By law, providers are required to report all cases, and laboratories are required to report all positive test results.
What are the goals of the HIV Connecticut surveillance program?
How does Project ConnQuER HEPC use the data?
Yale Medical School – AIDS Program’s Project ConnQuER HEPC in collaboration with the CT DPH uses electronic databases (eHARS and CTEDSS)˟ to identify the co-infected study populations. The CT DPH, using a validated CDC algorithm, matches patients in eHARS with patients in CTEDSS. Then, a de-identified list that includes study IDs is sent to the Yale team (along with several study variables) for analysis and evaluation.
*eHARS: The Enhanced HIV/AIDS Reporting System
*CTEDSS: Connecticut Electronic Disease Surveillance System
Multi-site Clinics partnerships
We collaborated with clinical and non-clinical providers from eleven multi-site clinics throughout the duration of ConnQuER HepC project. View the interactive map below to learn more about our multi-site clinics.
The goals of the partnership are:
General Overview of Approach to Hepatitis C Management
Ref:Kapadia SN and Marks KM. Hepatitis C Management Simplification from Test to Cure: A framework for primary care providers. Clinical Therapeutics 2018; 40: 1233-1245. (view pdf)
Updated HCV Testing Recommendations (April 10, 2020)
At least once in a lifetime for all adults aged 18 years and older (except where HCV prevalence is less than 0.1%).
All pregnant women during each pregnancy (except where HCV prevalence is less than 0.1%).
Periodically for individuals with ongoing risk.
SOURCE: CDC Recommendations for Hepatitis C Screening, MMWR, April 2020.
Treatment Guidelines
– AASLD Simplified HCV Treatment for Treatment-Naive Patients without Cirrhosis (view pdf)
– AASLD Simplified Treatment Algorithm for Treatment-Naive Adults with Compensated Cirrhosis (view pdf)
– AAHIV Treatment Guidelines and Recommendations for treating HCV in people with HIV (view pdf)
View Our Recommended Screening Tools
Hep C Testing Recommendations and Linkage to Care for Substance Use Disorder (SUD) clinics and Syringe Services Programs (SSPs)
We collaborated with Substance Use Disorder (SUD) clinics, and Syringe Services Programs (SSPs) throughout the duration of ConnQuER HepC project. View the interactive map below to learn more about our multi-site clinics.
SUD/SSP Client HCV Testing and Referral to Care Flowchart
Structure of Hepatitis C Virus Image: GrahamColm at English Wikipedia / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) Organization of the HIV-1 Virion Image: From: NIAID. / Public domain
Treatment Protocol
– University of Washington: Assessment and Treatment of Patients with Coexisting Mental Illness and Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Treatment Improvement Protocol (view pdf)
Recommended Screening Tools
– Patient Health Questionnaire – 2 (PHQ-2) (view Questionnaire)
– Patient Health Questionnaire – 9 (PHQ-9) (view Questionnaire)
– NIDA Drug Screening Tool (view)
– CAGE-AID Substance Abuse Screening Tool (view pdf)
– Rapid Opioid Dependence Screen (RODS) Tool (view pdf)
English
Spanish