Day 4 Recap: 2022 National Ryan White Conference on HIV Care & Treatment

Content From: HIV/AIDS Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services•Published: August 30, 2022•4 min read

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National Ryan White Conference on HIV care and treatement

The final day of the National Ryan White Conference on HIV Care & Treatment wrapped up on Friday, August 26. The four-day virtual meeting was packed with 163 workshops under five tracks; 87 posters; five business meetings, and four plenaries.

The Day 4 closing plenary focused on the role of innovation in ending the HIV epidemic, with a spotlight on three Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) recipients, highlighting their innovative care and treatment strategies. White House Office of National AIDS Policy Director Harold Phillips also joined participants for a special presentation.

Closing Plenary: Innovation

Heather Hauck, MSW, LICSW, Deputy Associate Administrator of HRSA’s HIV/AIDS Bureau, provided a recap of the week and moderated the following session presenters.

Alex Keuroghlian, MD, MPH, Director of Education and Training Programs at The Fenway Institute, and Harvard Medical School Associate Professor of Psychiatry, reviewed the HIV/AIDS Bureau’s Implementation Science Framework’s three components (evidence-based, evidence-informed, and emerging interventions). Keuroghlian focused on evidence-informed interventions and the approach and products generated under HRSA’s E2i initiative Exit Disclaimer, which focused on HIV care in four areas: transgender women, Black men who have sex with men, behavioral health, and trauma-informed care. A newly launched HRSA initiative, 2iS Exit Disclaimer, will focus on emerging interventions in four areas: incarceration experience, LGBTQ+ youth, substance use disorder, and telehealth.

Jill A. York, DDS, MAS, Professor, Department of Community Health at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey School of Dental Medicine, presented on using a trauma-informed approach in a dental setting. York described a trauma-informed care approach that was framed under a medical home model and developed with five principles: collaborative/mutual respect; safety/consistency and predictability in service delivery; removal of bias; trust; and client empowerment. York provided case studies to demonstrate how care delivery can be modified with a trauma-informed mindset along with the performance improvement elements that put the model into practice.

Larry Zayas Rivera, Translucent Project Manager, Centro Ararat, reviewed the organization’s status-neutral approach to care for people of transgender experience. This approach engages people into care with attention to their overall health versus a clear segmentation into HIV care or prevention services. Rivera reviewed the outreach activities taken to build relationships with the community (e.g., alliance with performers at clubs and training them on messaging) and specific engagement efforts, like social media and a series of digital workshops to retain clients in care and build a sense of community.

The National HIV/AIDS Strategy

Harold Phillips, MRP, Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, reviewed the U.S. Government’s plans and activities for addressing and ending the HIV epidemic. The foundation of these efforts is the latest National HIV/AIDS Strategy or NHAS. The document includes an overall vision, four goals, 21 objectives, 78 strategies, 8 priority populations, and indicators of progress. Among these indicators are new quality of life indicators covering health, mental health, hunger, employment, and housing. Additional NHAS highlights include, for example, attention to racism as a barrier to health care, aging and HIV, and a status-neutral approach to HIV prevention and care services.

Phillips also reviewed the federal implementation plan, a companion to NHAS, which contains action steps for 10 federal departments to undertake to move the strategy forward.

Phillips also summarized a range of federal HIV initiatives. Among them, the I Am a Work of ART Campaign, a national viral suppression campaign that encourages people with HIV who are not in care to seek care, stay in care, and achieve viral suppression through antiretroviral therapy. Phillips also highlighted the federal government’s announcement at the AIDS 2022 International Conference of the adoption of U=U, or “undetectable equals untransmittable” to further guide HIV treatment and prevention efforts. Additionally, Phillips highlighted a recent White House meeting to discuss repeal and reform of state HIV criminalization laws as a strategy to reduce HIV-related stigma and discrimination.

In closing, Phillips commented on looking for “opportunities for innovation” to improve our HIV work: implementing the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program’s model of care via implementation science as well as integrating behavioral health services into clinical and community-based service models.

Accessing 2022 National Ryan White Conference Presentations

All session materials will be maintained on the Conference platform until transitioned to TargetHIV.org Exit Disclaimer in the coming months.

Stay Connected to #RyanWhite2022

Want to catch up on the virtual 2022 National Ryan White Conference on HIV Care & Treatment? Follow HRSA on Twitter: @HRSAgov Exit Disclaimer. You can also share which sessions you enjoyed the most – just use the hashtags #NRWC2022 and #32YearsofCARE.

There’s Still Time to Share Why You CARE

On August 18, HRSA’s HIV/AIDS Bureau recognized the 32^nd anniversary of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act – the legislation that created the RWHAP. Help us celebrate by downloading the “I CARE Because…” flyer, print it out, fill it in, and post a picture of yourself with the flyer to our virtual 2022 NRWC Photo Gallery. When posting, please use #32YearsofCARE and #NRWC2022. We will use the images throughout the remainder of the year to highlight how the RWHAP has affected the lives of our stakeholders.

Learn More

Learn more about the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and the 2022 NRWC: