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Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique logoLink to Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique
. 2009 Nov 1;100(6):459–462. [Article in French] doi: 10.1007/BF03404344

Traitement du VIH auprès d’une clientèle marginalisée : approche de proximité pour favoriser l’observance des rendez-vous

Michel Perreault 115,215,, Manon Mousseau 115, Catherine Laurier 315, Daniel Rabouin 115, Sylvie Desbiens 415, Pierre Côté 415, Danielle Rouleau 415,515, Claire Lahaie 415, Marc-André Charron 415, Marie-Josée Carbonneau 415
PMCID: PMC6973671  PMID: 20209741

Abstract

Objective

To document compliance with medical and psychosocial appointments for HIV/AIDS treatment in a population of marginalized individuals with problematic drug use.

Method

This is a retrospective study exploring appointment compliance for an HIV treatment based on an outreach intervention. Information regarding the medical and psychosocial appointments of 185 patients of the HIV-Drug Addiction outpatient unit, at the University of Montreal Hospital Centre (CHUM), has been collected for a one-year period (2006–2007). The compliance rate of appointments has been calculated according to the type of care provided: 1) conventional, provided only in the clinic at the “fixed” location, and 2) outreach-based, when the team at the fixed location is complemented by the intervention of a “mobile” team for the more unstable patients.

Results

Compliance rates for medical and psychosocial appointments in patients receiving care solely at the fixed location is 61.4%. For those whom care is received at the fixed location while complemented by the mobile team, the corresponding rate is 73.9%. This is an elevated compliance rate, higher than those generally reported for outreach-based programs.

Conclusion

These results lend support to the success of programs integrating an outreach-based intervention for a vulnerable clientele. Indeed, appointment compliance in those who are more disorganized, for which the mobile team has intervened, has proven comparable and even superior to compliance with appointments when treatment is only received at the fixed location.

Key words: Compliance, human immunodeficiency virus, addiction, treatment, vulnerable clientele, outreach

Footnotes

Remerciements: Les auteurs tiennent à remercier tous les intervenants du programme de l’Unité ambulatoire du CHUM, ainsi que Noé Djawn White pour sa contribution lors de l’implantation du projet. Cette étude a été réalisée en partie grâce aux fonds du SLITSS (Service de lutte contre les infections transmissibles par le sexe et le sang (ITSS)) du Ministère de la santé et des services sociaux du gouvernement du Québec.

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