Making the Link: A Pilot Health Navigation Intervention to Improve Timely Linkage to Care for Men Who have Sex with Men and Transgender Women Recently Diagnosed with HIV in Guatemala City

We piloted a health navigation strategy to promote timely linkage to care among men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women (TW) recently diagnosed with HIV in Guatemala City. We used a mixed-methods approach, integrating quantitative data collected during clinic visits and qualitative data from in-depth interviews, to characterize acceptability of navigation and time to linkage, defined as having the first clinical care visit. Out of 54 participants who enrolled in the pilot (n = 52 MSM; n = 2 TW), 50 (92.6%) accepted navigation and all were linked to care. Median time to linkage was 3days (Interquartile Range 2-5days). In qualitative interviews, participants expressed feeling scared and alone following their diagnosis and appreciated the support of a navigator, especially when they did not feel they could access their existing support networks. Future research and evaluation should continue to assess how to best use health navigation to support key populations recently diagnosed with HIV.