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State health department outlines HIV behavioral surveillance pilot for Lowell region
Summary
Massachusetts Department of Public Health officials told the Lowell Board of Health about a CDC‑funded National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (NHBS) pilot focused on people who inject drugs, describing anonymous interviews, rapid testing with warm handoffs to care, and a sampling goal of roughly 300 interviews this cycle.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health briefed the Lowell City Board of Health on an NHBS (National HIV Behavioral Surveillance) pilot that would focus in this region on people who inject drugs and other high‑risk groups.
“My name is Shauna Honafrey. I’m an epidemiologist with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health,” said Honafrey, who presented the project alongside Justin Hinchi, the state’s project coordinator. The presenters said the NHBS work uses a standardized interviewer‑administered survey and a qualitative component to understand behaviors, service access and barriers that may put people at risk for HIV.
The presenters said the state’s pilot is one of two the CDC funded in 2022 that gives Massachusetts additional flexibility to deploy NHBS methods locally. The goal is to collect data that are useful to community partners and local service providers, not merely add to federal surveillance databases. Honafrey said CDC still funds and advises the work but Massachusetts will tailor the sampling and instruments for local needs.
Honafrey described field procedures: recruitment will generally run July through November, use respondent‑driven sampling (coupon recruitment), include an incentive for participants and aim for a target of about 300 interviews across Lowell and surrounding communities. The survey covers stigma, health‑care contact, sexual and drug‑use history, access to preventive services such as needle exchange and PrEP, and a qualitative element such as interviews or focus groups.
On testing and referrals, Honafrey said the survey is anonymous but interviewers will offer a rapid HIV test; positive rapid results get a confirmatory rapid test and a warm handoff to a local provider so newly diagnosed people can quickly access care. “We partner with a local provider so that if somebody is newly positive, we do a warm handoff right then,” she said.
Board members asked whether the project leads to concrete local resources. Honafrey said the surveillance team shares findings with the Office of HIV/AIDS and other contract managers who control service delivery and contracts, but the data team itself does not award contracts. She added the hope is that local agencies can use the findings to seek resources or shape service delivery.
Board members also pressed about needle‑exchange questions and whether the survey can compare outcomes (for instance, HIV rates among needle‑exchange users versus nonusers). Honafrey said the instruments include specific items about access to clean needles, sharing practices and frequency; if sample sizes permit, the team can produce comparative analyses.
The board accepted the presentation as informational and did not take formal action.
