Carceral HIV Program | Mountain West AIDS Education and Training Center (MWAETC)

2025 HIV in the Carceral Settings Conference Information

Program Overview

The MWAETC is dedicated to the training needs of health care providers in carceral settings. Our program offers a variety of training opportunities specific to carceral staff members:

Annual conference on HIV in the Carceral Setting
Didactic seminars and lectures
On-line video trainings (live and on-demand)
Preceptorship program for medical providers
Virtual communities of practice
Clinical consultation
Technical assistance

Please contact Antionette Craig for more information.

Join us for the 2025 HIV in Carceral Settings Conference

Join us for the 2025 HIV in Carceral Settings Conference (new name, same conference) that will be held in Spokane, Washington Friday and Saturday, April 4^th and 5^th. As always, the conference is free and continuing education credit will be provided. Individuals providing care and service to people with HIV who reside within or interact with jail or prison settings within the 10-state Mountain West region are welcome to attend. Click here to see the conference agenda. Click here to register. Click here to see agendas from recent conferences.(underlined text should be hyperlinked to agenda, moose registration page, agendas from 2022-2024 conferences respectively

2024 HIV in Corrections Conference

The 2024 MWAETC HIV in the Carceral Setting conference in Olympia was a success this past spring. The conference brought together individuals working both inside and outside carceral facilities in an interactive reentry workshop on Friday. Participants learned about the complexity of the reentry process and brainstormed ways to overcome barriers for people leaving jail and prison. Saturday night, the keynote speaker, Jason McGill from Washington Health Care Authority, presented a broad overview of what the new 1115 waiver will allow Medicaid to cover and a timeline for implementation. Finally, on Saturday, there were clinical updates on HIV care, anal cancer screening, and recommended vaccinations. A panel discussed gender affirming care behind bars from both provider and patient perspectives. The day ended with an amazing talk by Haner Hernåndez, who made us look inwards at our own roles and responsibilities. Participants and conference team members all left motivated to actively strive to decrease inequities within their systems.

MWAETC 2024 HIV in Corrections Conference Leaders

Rhianna Tretin (Montana AETC), Dayna Morrison (Oregon AETC), Carrie Van Ness (Washington AETC), Susan Latta (MWAETC Regional Office), Lara Strick, MD (MWAETC Regional Office), Antoinette Craig (MWAETC Regional Office), David Spach, MD (MWAETC Regional Office), Hillary Liss, MD (MWAETC Regional Office), Laurie Sylla (MWAETC Regional Office), Victor Ramirez (Washington AETC)

Carceral HIV (aka HIV in Corrections) Preceptorship

This two-day educational program is a prison-based preceptorship for health care providers during which they will observe and work with an HIV expert preceptor. Preceptorships will be designed to meet the specific needs of individual trainees based on current levels of experience and practice settings. Preceptors will focus on the care and treatment of patients with HIV within the context of a comprehensive, continuum of care model. A combination of didactic and experiential instruction will include HIV risk assessment, diagnosis of primary HIV and opportunistic infections, therapeutic interventions (i.e., medication regimens, including managing side effects, salvage therapies, and adherence strategies), and treatment as prevention. Instruction will also include strategies for effectively addressing patients’ psychosocial needs related to mental health and substance use disorders and social support. Participants (preceptees) will accompany the preceptor to observe at least four work-ups with patients being treated for HIV. The preceptorship will include time in both prison and community clinic settings.

Carceral HIV Preceptorship Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this program, attendees should be able to:

Diagnose primary HIV infection
Conduct baseline evaluation of newly diagnosed patients with HIV infection
Cite principles underlying antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation and maintenance
Recognize adverse and potentially life-threatening side effects of ART
Approach diagnosis/management of common HIV co-morbid conditions

Preceptorship Application

Corrections Resources

The following is a collection of resources on a broad range of HIV-related topics specific to working with individuals in the corrections setting who are infected with HIV or are at risk for the acquisition or transmission of HIV.

CDC Recommendations for Correctional Settings

Access summary of CDC recommendations for testing, vaccination, and treatment of HIV, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) for persons who are detained or incarcerated, including public health actions for pregnant women. https://www.cdc.gov/correctional-health/recommendations/index.html

National HIV Curriculum, HIV and Corrections Module

The National HIV Curriculum is an AIDS Education and Training Center Program and led by the University of Washington. This module is for any health care provider who would like to establish core competence in testing for HIV, recognizing acute HIV infection, and linking persons diagnosed with HIV to medical care within a carceral setting. https://www.hiv.uw.edu/go/key-populations/hiv-corrections

Hepatitis C Online, Treatment of HCV in a Correctional Setting Module

For any clinician who may encounter persons with hepatitis C virus infection and would like to establish core competence in testing for hepatitis C, counseling patients on preventing hepatitis C transmission, and diagnosing acute hepatitis C infection within a carceral setting. https://www.hepatitisc.uw.edu/go/key-populations-situations/treatment-c…

MOUNTAIN WEST AIDS EDUCATION AND TRAINING CENTER

This website is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $2,982,063 with 0% financed with non-governmental sources. The content in presentations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government.