Background
In October 2019 California passed first-of-its-kind legislation to improve access to biomedical HIV prevention with Senate Bill 159 (SB 159), which authorizes pharmacists to prescribe PrEP/PEP for up to 60 days. We recognized the importance of providing access to such life-saving medication, particularly in areas across Southern California that may be deemed as “PrEP deserts,” defined as geographic areas of social vulnerability with more than a 30-minute drive time to a PrEP provider.
Invitation
To better understand how HIV prevention services such as PrEP and PEP provision may be delivered in key areas of Southern California, Los Angeles County, and the Inland Empire in particular, we invite you to join our collaborative, as a community member, public health/other governmental practitioner, or as a pharmacist representative. Through this work, we can find local solutions to end the HIV epidemic in Southern California.
Our Next P4 Collaborative Monthly Meeting via Zoom is on:
- For LA County: Monday, April 17th at 11 am Pacific
- For the Inland Empire: Wednesday, April 19th at 11 am Pacific
*Please email p4study@luskin.ucla.edu for the zoom link to these meetings
ABOUT THE PROJECT
The PrEP/PEP Provision in Pharmacies (P4) project is a collaboration of UCLA HHIPP and LA LGBT Center. Our project is funded by the Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The main objective of our work is to better understand the issues behind the low implementation of pharmacist-delivered PrEP/PEP within identified PrEP deserts across three counties in Southern California (Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino). A secondary objective of our project is to build an engaged coalition composed of key regional partners to develop locally based solutions and strategies that will reduce and/or enhance identified implementation barriers and facilitators to pharmacist-delivered PrEP/PEP among key populations, such as sexual and gender minority (SGM) and Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC) communities.
Los Angeles County
PrEP/PEP Provision in Pharmacies (P4) LA Collaborative: Responsibilities & Shared Objectives
Main Objective of the P4 Coalition
Develop a practical strategies and solutions to address high HIV rates and low PrEP use in Los Angeles County based on locally-collected data (interviews & surveys) and input from key partners (i.e. pharmacists, community members, health practitioners, researchers).
P4 Study Specifics:
- Interview key partners (regional public health practitioners, pharmacists, researchers, community organizations and members) on the HIV prevention landscape in LAC and the barriers and facilitators to providing PrEP/PEP in pharmacies (N=30)
- Survey pharmacists working in identified PrEP deserts and non-PrEP deserts.
- Ongoing assessment of the collected study data (interviews and survey) to develop a locally-based strategies and solutions to improve PrEP access and uptake in pharmacies among high priority populations.
Shared Objectives:
- Reduce HIV rates in Los Angeles County, especially in areas with low PrEP accessibility
- Identify systemic/persistent gaps and issues in access, availability, and delivery of HIV prevention services for high priority populations.
- Determine efficient ways for pharmacists to be involved in HIV prevention (i.e. examining barriers and facilitators to prescribing PrEP/PEP in pharmacies)
P4 Collaborative Members’ Responsibilities:
- Attend monthly/quarterly meetings (end of project is July 2024)
- Review project materials (i.e., survey/interview guide); fine-tune to ask local questions and represent local groups
- Assess presented data form interviews and survey and provide input based on professional and personal experiences
- Work with other members to develop a practical strategy to improve PrEP/PEP access in pharmacies in Los Angeles County
For Inquiries – contact Dr. Raiza Beltran at p4study@luskin.ucla.edu
Inland Empire
