Urban Indian Health Institute created an e-learning course in collaboration with Cardea Services that focuses on educating healthcare professionals on providing culturally attuned HIV and sexual health care to American Indian and Alaska Native patients. These modules are designed to assist in training and on-boarding advanced practice providers, RNs, and other clinic staff about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and Two-Spirit (LGBTQ2S) health, inclusive sexual health assessment, HIV basics, and treatment as prevention in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. This course is available free of charge and for Continuing Medical Education hours and Continuing Nursing Education hours until September 2020.
This course consists of four video modules and is available online.
Module 1: Culturally Proficient Sexual Health Care for People of all Genders and Sexual Orientations
Learn how to Identify differences between sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, sex assigned at birth, and Two-Spirit identities; identify specific healthcare needs and concerns of LGBTQ2S clients; and learn strategies that can be used to provide quality healthcare to LGBTQ2S American Indian and Alaska Native patients
Module 2: Sexual Health Assessment
Identify rapport-building and communication skills for assessing a client’s sexual health and demonstrate eliciting a sexual history using language and questions inclusive of all sexual orientations and gender identities
Module 3: Talking with Patients about HIV
Identify modes of HIV transmission and relative risk; identify client-centered, culturally appropriate harm/risk reduction strategies; access core, evidence-based guidelines on HIV testing and treatment; and engage in client-centered, culturally appropriate conversations with clients about HIV prevention, HIV-related stigma, HIV testing, and linkages to care
Module 4: Biomedical Prevention of HIV (ART, PEP, and PrEP)
Describe Treatment as Prevention (TAP) to patients and clinic staff as a biomedical means of reducing the risk of HIV transmission by people living with HIV; discuss Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) with patients and staff as elements of biomedical means of reducing the risk of HIV transmission to people who are HIV negative; converse with diverse patients about TAP, PEP, and PrEP as part of a risk reduction strategy involving drug and alcohol reduction, clean needles, condoms, fewer partners, etc.; and aid a patient navigating through tribal, IHS, or urban clinics to get regular testing and access to TAP, PEP, or PrEP as well as affordable care
Funding for this project was provided by the Indian Health Service and Secretary’s Minority AIDS Initiative.
