Not a Monolith: Regional HIV Implementation Science Lessons With Latino/a/x Populations

Abstract

HIV incidence is increasing among Latino/a/x individuals in the United States, especially among young Latino/x gay, bisexual, and sexual minority men. Latino/a/x populations face heightened structural and social barriers to effective interventions for HIV prevention, including pre-exposure prophylaxis, and across the HIV care continuum. Implementation science provides a timely methodology for developing, testing, and scaling effective interventions into practice. Implementation science considers a specific population's priorities and environment, which is especially relevant given the diversity of Latino/a/x populations. In this article, we present lessons learned from our group's experiences leading HIV-related implementation research with various Latino/a/x populations in the United States and Puerto Rico. We highlight the importance of structural and social determinants of health, community-engaged research, and culturally tailored interventions to address HIV disparities. Implementation researchers and institutional leaders can leverage these lessons learned to drive the multilevel change needed to end the HIV epidemic among Latino/a/x populations.