This exciting grassroots initiative taps into the strengths and resources of communities in inner-city and metropolitan areas to provide effective therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive people who inject drugs (PWIDs). Live meetings for small, community-based groups of healthcare professionals will offer medical and addiction-services specialists cutting-edge strategies to collaboratively reach and treat HCV-positive PWIDs. Balancing clinical data with real-world experience and insights, these educational events will give participants the opportunity to interact directly with HCV and harm-reduction experts as well as resources to use and share in the practice setting. Strong local HCV-care networks will help build bridges to HCV-infected PWIDs and allow these high-risk individuals access to the care they need and deserve.
Goals of this educational initiative:
Prepare community-based HCV treaters to provide effective therapy for HCV-positive people who inject PWIDs
Increase HCV testing and treatment of PWIDs through proactive risk identification and referral by addiction-services centers
Educate HCV-care specialists and addiction-services personnel regarding harm-reduction principles and prevention of HCV reinfection
Build linkage to HCV-care networks within local/regional systems, drive high treatment and high sustained viral response (SVR) rates, and decrease incidence of HCV infection/reinfection within PWID populations
content
Community-BASED HCV Treaters
Part 1: Keys to Successful Treatment of HCV in People Who Inject Drugs
- The national and local epidemiologic imperative: HCV treatment as prevention within PWID populations
- Barriers to treatment of HCV-positive PWID: addressing clinical assumptions regarding eligibility and prescribing limitations
- Updates on clinical evidence for the feasibility and success of treating HCV-positive PWID
- Real-world integration: Optimizing sustained virologic response (SVR) and reinfection prevention in PWID
Part 2: Anatomy of Addiction
- The direct risks and clinical ramifications of injection practices
- A holistic approach to harm reduction
- The HCV treater’s role in overdose-death prevention
- Educating the patient and the provider
- Optimizing interdisciplinary collaboration in support of HCV-positive PWIDs
COMMUNITY-BASED ADDICTION SERVICES PROVIDERS
- Understanding the need for referral and linkage to HCV care
- The national and local epidemiologic imperative: HCV treatment as prevention within PWID populations
- Barriers to treatment of HCV-positive PWID: addressing clinical assumptions regarding eligibility and prescribing limitations
- Updates on clinical evidence for the feasibility and success of treating HCV-positive PWID
- A holistic approach to harm reduction
- Real-world integration: optimizing collaboration with HCV care specialists
Continuing Medical Education (CME) INFORMATION
Community-BASED HCV Treaters
Target Audience
This educational initiative is intended for hepatologists, gastroenterologists, infectious disease specialists and other clinicians currently treating HCV.
learning objectives
Upon completion of this program, HCV Treaters will be better able to:
- Discuss national and local epidemiologic data on HCV-positive PWID
- Describe the feasibility, efficacy, and population benefits of treating HCV-infected PWID
- Prescribe DAA-drug regimens for the treatment of HCV-infected PWID
- Apply harm-reduction principles and practices across the HCV-care continuum
COMMUNITY-BASED ADDICTION SERVICES PROVIDERS
Target Audience
This educational initiative is intended for addiction center clinical staff, social-services professionals, case managers, peer educators, peer advocates, and non-clinical office staff.
learning objectives
Upon completion of this program, addiction-services specialists will be better able to:
- Discuss national and local epidemiologic data on HCV-positive people who inject drugs (PWID) that support consistent screening of at-risk individuals
- Provide counseling to HCV-positive PWID on the feasibility, efficacy, and overall health benefits of HCV treatment
- Refer HCV-positive PWID to community-based HCV treaters for confirmatory HCV testing and direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy
- Educate PWID on harm-reduction principles and practices to prevent HCV reinfection after successful DAA therapy
