Reaching MSM and Transgender Communities

HRSA's HIV/AIDS Bureau supports initiatives that focus on sexual minority communities facing challenges with HIV care engagement. Projects are designed to enhance Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) services. Initiatives, current and past, focus on involving consumers in guiding their own care decisions and evidence-informed service delivery approaches.

Many projects are RWHAP Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) initiatives, which support development of innovative strategies through funding of research and demonstration projects. Others are special technical assistance and training programs. Examples include:

• The Center for Innovation and Engagement has multiple evidence-based interventions, including Project STYLE, which focuses on engaging youth in HIV care.
• His Health: Engaging Black MSM in HIV Care and Prevention, which developed a compendium of care models and training modules on enhancing linkage, retention, and engagement strategies targeting Black MSM. 
• SPNS Transgender Women of Color Initiative and its series of implementation manuals for linking and retaining transgender women of color in HIV care.
• end+disparities ECHO Collaborative quality improvement tools on addressing health disparities among four disproportionately affected HIV subpopulations, including MSM of color and transgender people.
• Interventions for the engagement and retention of Latinos in HIV care in Culturally Appropriate Interventions of Outreach, Access and Retention among Latino/a Populations Initiative: Intervention Monographs.
• Innovative Approaches to Engaging Hard-to-Reach Populations Living with HIV/AIDS into Care tools help agencies improve care engagement for various hard-to-reach individuals.

See the Best Practices Compilation for more tools targeting various populations and services.