National, community challenges fuel barriers to HCV treatment access
Substance use, trauma histories, and mental health problems can negatively affect care engagement and must be addressed before the benefits of HCV therapy can be realized.
Addressing these issues isn’t always easy, said Kathleen Bernock, FNP-BC, AACRN, AAHIVS, of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Family Health Center in New York City, in an email to Medscape Medical News. She pointed out that several states have harsh restrictions on who is able to access HCV treatment, and some states will not approve certain medications for people who actively use drugs.
“Even for states without these restrictions, many health systems are difficult to navigate and may not be welcoming to persons actively using,” said Bernock. Trauma-informed care can also be difficult to translate into clinics, she added.
“Decentralizing care to the communities most affected would greatly help mitigate these barriers,” suggested Bernock. Decentralization, she explained, might include co-locating services such as syringe exchanges, utilizing community health workers and patient navigators, and expanding capacity-to-treat to community-based providers.
“[And] with the expansion of telehealth services in the US,” said Bernock, “we now have even more avenues to reach people that we never had before.”
LaMoy and Bernock have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
This article first appeared on Medscape.com.