The third part of the regular quality improvement cycle is to prioritise one area from the ‘Innovation and expansion” section to work on as a team during the next cycle.
Question thirteen of the Euro HIV EDAT Self-evaluation Grids (link) focuses specifically on developing additional capacities and integrating new prevention tools.
Expanding activities
CBVCTs may consider expanding activities in the areas of:
- Coverage (e.g. by adding outreach services or targeting new MSM subpopulations)
- Accessibility (e.g. by changing or extending opening hours)
- Additional tests (e.g. by offering comprehensive STI testing)
- Harm reduction/prevention work for ChemSex users (individual counselling, referral, discussion groups, recovery drop-in groups, needle exchange)
- Additional medical services (e.g. by providing an MSM-friendly general medical service)
- Additional psychosocial services (e.g. by offering counselling, group work, mentoring etc.)
- Networks (e.g. by linking with GLBTIQ* community initiatives)
This section offers checklists that CBVCTs can use to expand their services by integrating one ore more of three current issues that have a strong relationship with and impact upon core CBVCT operations: PrEP, self-sampling/self-testing and support for ChemSex users. The checklists and action plans work like the others in this toolkit: the more yellow (‘partly’) and red (‘no’) answers you give in each row, the higher the need to discuss this aspect in more detail and decide on concrete, specific actions.
More detailed information and links are displayed when you click on the (?) icon in each cell of the table.
Once you have decided what to do, you can fill in the ‘Actions’ column and click to copy your decisions to the action plan below the checklist. Allocating clear responsibilities and timelines in the action plan increases the likelihood that your decisions will become actions.
Checkpoints as holistic MSM health services
The three additional topics of PrEP, home testing/sampling and support for ChemSex users represent steps towards transforming checkpoints into comprehensive health services for MSM based on a holistic approach to health and wellbeing.
Which other services would need to be incorporated to take a checkpoint to the level of a ‘One-Stop-Shop’ depends on local needs, legal and other limitations within the local health system, and the available or potential resources.
There are existing examples of checkpoints working towards this goal: http://www.mycheckpoint.ch/en/zh