CONNECT: Rapid HIV Testing in the Community Project
In partnership with SHINE SA, Thorne Harbour Health and SAMESH are piloting and evaluating the use of vending machines to dispense free Atomo HIV Self-Test (HST) kits to support rapid testing and to strengthen pathways to treatment and support.
This pilot project, which will take place in South Australia, is the result of a successful tender for federal funding as part of Activities to Support the National Response to Blood Borne Viruses (BBV) and Sexually Transmissible Infections (STI). The project builds on similar projects implemented in the USA, the UK, and New Zealand.
The target groups for the CONNECT pilot project include:
- Gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM) from non-English speaking backgrounds
- Migrants
- International students living in South Australia
These priority groups currently experience multiple barriers to HIV testing, including cost, time, privacy, fear of a positive test result, and fear of HIV related stigma and discrimination. By providing easy access to free HIV self-tests via vending machines placed in discrete and safe locations where our target populations frequent, we aim to directly address these barriers.
The pilot will make testing more accessible to those who may not otherwise test, encourage ongoing sexual health testing, and provide access to a culturally safe treatment and care pathways that include further testing, treatment and support from community programs and peer support groups.
A Cultural Advisory Group (CAG) has been established to provide advice and feedback on the roll-out of the vending machines, the social marketing campaign and key messaging, opportunities to improve the cultural safety of testing options and the treatment cascade, including clinical care and community support, and the conduct of the evaluation.
As part of the project’s culturally safe access and engagement model the CONNECT webpage content, campaign materials, and follow up survey have been translated and will be available in the following languages:
- Arabic
- English
- Hindi
- Indonesian
- Malay
- Mandarin
- Spanish
- Vietnamese
The webpage content and all translations have undergone community checks for cultural sensitivities and accuracy. Information on the physical vending machines is also multilingual, as are the instructions for the HIV self-test kit.
The scope of the current project will allow for five vending machines to be placed at collaborating university campuses at the University of Adelaide and UniSA, and the Pulteney Sauna. The exact locations of the vending machines will be eventually be published on the SAMESH website’s CONNECT page.
To access a free HIV self-test kit, users will scan a QR code, located on all promotional material and vending machines. This will take them to a webpage where they will be asked to provide basic information about age, place of birth, sexuality, and testing history. Once completed they will receive confirmation of registering, and can then access a kit by scanning the QR code on the vending machine of their choice. Users can even access a kit for a friend if they are unable to.
The smart vending machines are scheduled to be installed by the end of February, with a marketing campaign to launch in March.
