Volume 6, Issue 11

Special Populations: Undocumented LatinX People

In this issue:

While individuals identifying as Hispanic or Latino account for a disproportionate number of new HIV diagnoses, Spanish-speaking undocumented immigrants from Latin America (herein referred to as undocumented LatinX) face unique challenges to engagement in HIV care and prevention. Their undocumented status complicates their ability to obtain HIV care, and presents numerous barriers — linguistic, structural, social — that for many are too difficult to overcome on their own. What can be done to help engage these individuals in successful HIV care/prevention? How can HIV care teams help address cultural, linguistic, structural, and psychosocial barriers in this community? What services are available to undocumented non-English speaking LatinX PLWH, and how can clinicians help their patients access them?  

These are some of the questions this issue’s authors, Dr. Kathleen Page and nurse Owen Smith from Johns Hopkins University, address in this issue of eHIV Review. 

Learning objectives:

  • Describe the most common challenges to providing HIV care for LatinX people who are undocumented immigrants and discuss methods to improve their adherence to treatment and engagement in care. 
  • Describe best practices to address the HIV prevention challenges faced by undocumented immigrant LatinX populations. 

Authors:

Kathleen Page, MD
Kathleen Page, MD

Associate Professor of Medicine
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD

Owen Smith, RN
Owen Smith, RN

PhD Student, School of Nursing
Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
Baltimore, MD

Program Directors:

Ethel D. Weld, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences
Division of Infectious Diseases
Division of Clinical Pharmacology
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Baltimore, Maryland
(she/her/hers)

Matthew Spinelli, MD, MAS

Assistant Professor
HIV, ID, and Global Medicine
Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital
San Francisco, California
(he/him/his)

Justin Alves, RN, FNP-BC, ACRN, CARN, CNE

Nurse Educator
Boston Medical Center
Boston, MA
(he/him/his)

Length of activity:

1.0 hour Physicians
1.0 contact hour Nurses

Launch date: August 19, 2021
Expiration date: August 18, 2023