An Application of RRTTR Measure for HIV Prevention among Prisoners in a Province Prison in Northern Thailand

Abstract

This qualitative study design had objectives, firstly, to investigate an application of RRTTR (Reach, Recruit, Test, Treat, and Retain) measure for HIV prevention among prisoners, and, secondly, to analyze the roles of managing personnel who practiced preventive services in the province prison. Data were collected between May-September, 2018 from an in-depth interview with the personnel concerning to management plan for preventive services of HIV infection in the prisoners. Population samples in the study comprised six personnel who are nurses working in the prison, HIV/AIDS coordinating nurses from the hospital, AIDS practitioner in the provincial health office, and a representative from HIV/AIDS provincial network. The process of implementation for HIV prevention followed the strategy of RRTR measure of the Department of Disease Control and also be used as a tool for analysis its efficiency of the service model and the roles of the relevant personnel. The results revealed that preventive service model was correlated to the RRTR measure that offered 198 inmates able to reach the preventive services. The service model was suitable for the context of the prison, which prisoners moved in and out every month. The preventive service process could provide information for the risky inmates for what they had negative or positive blood resulting them to go for treatment faster than the process from a regular yearly screening test. The retained infective HIV prisoners performed as networking providers for active preventive service to the new inmates, and also there were ringleaders in the prison giving advices individually for HIV prevention. The ringleaders were trusted by the others to unveil personal health problems. In addition, the prison also provided proper additional condom supplement program to all who needed for self-prevention. So that the RRTR measure was appropriate to be implemented in this prison. However, it should add some activities to encourage the inmates who had negative blood test and risk to receive blood check every six-months and add the information system to collect and share the data.