Exploring Access to and Use of Community Resources and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis Interest Among Black and Latina Women in Texas

Abstract

Leveraging community resources to address disparities in HIV and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use across Black and Latino/a communities is of high importance, yet little is known about how community members utilize these resources. We explored the use of community resources and PrEP among Black and Latina women at high risk for HIV by conducting semistructured interviews with 18 Black and Latina women from May 2018 to November 2019 in Austin, Texas. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic content analysis. We found that the majority of participants used community resources, including shelters, domestic violence resources, counseling, and education/workplace resources. Several barriers to the use of community resources were intimate partner violence, financial and employment issues, and stigma. Most women were interested in PrEP use, and those who used community resources were more open to PrEP use than those who did not use community resources. Future work should focus on promoting PrEP through community resources.