Establishing evidence criteria to identify and disseminate best practice implementation strategies in HIV

Ginger McKay, PhD
Washington University in St. Louis

ABSTRACT:
Given the progress of implementation research to address the HIV epidemic in the US, criteria specifically for evaluating the quality of implementation research and strategy effectiveness are needed to recommend strategies likely to have impact for practitioners. We will describe the development and application of the Best Practices Tool, a set of criteria to evaluate the evidence supporting HIV-specific implementation strategies. Our approach involved in three steps: key informant interviews to develop an initial set of criteria, a Delphi to refine the tool, and then piloting with existing published research to finalize our tool. We now are currently working to identify and disseminate strategies that meet the highest criteria levels for improving the uptake of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV and HIV testing with plans to address subsequent aspects of the HIV care continuum.