Grant: Op. Gr.:Addressing Infectious/Congenital Syphilis-Syphilis Impl. Science-General

This proposal will assess the impact of a team approach to reach persons potentially affected by syphilis and HIV and to offer testing using a rapid/point of care (POC) test for syphilis and HIV in a community impacted by the syphilis outbreak. This region of Alberta has seen 19 infants born with congenital syphilis since 2018, with three infants stillborn. The team will consist of provincial STI nurses, nursing staff from the local Health Centre of one of the largest First Nations (FN) communities in Alberta and persons with lived/living experience (PWLLE). One of the key roles of the PWLLE will be to assist the nursing team to reach and support community members who do not engage with traditional healthcare models but who may wish to be tested through outreach services. We hope that this team approach will encourage syphilis/HIV testing among community members who may be mistrustful of traditional health services while at the same time building capacity for future collaboration. We propose two approaches to reach persons who may be affected by syphilis/HIV: 1) placing a STI nurse in a local emergency department where persons may present for care for other reasons; this may be the only point of contact for a pregnant woman until they present in labor, 2) having a STI nurse work together with the local community registered nurse and PWLLE to approach and offer testing to community members. Testing in the community may be in the health centre or in outreach settings such as with a mobile mental health unit, ambulance services and at a variety of events such as rodeos and pow wows. Since the POC test provides a result in less than a minute, this will allow persons who test positive for syphilis to be treated immediately and to be linked to other health services if they test positive for HIV. Testing and treating in a single visit will prevent complications of syphilis as well as prevent transmission to partners and from pregnant persons to unborn child(ren).