Ngozi Okoroma
The Impact of a Pharmacy-Collaborated Street Medicine Program in the Achievement of Sustained Virologic Response-12 in Unhoused Patients with Hepatitis C
Access, adherence, and advocacy — pharmacists bring the final link in the chain to cure Hepatitis C in the unhoused community.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a curable disease, yet unhoused individuals face significant barriers to accessing and completing treatment due to unstable living conditions, limited healthcare access, and challenges with medication adherence. Homeless people often suffer from poor health and premature death due to their limited access healthcare and are also deprived of basic human and social rights. Pharmacists can improve SVR12 rates in unhoused populations by verifying therapy appropriateness, providing individualized medication counseling, monitoring adherence, and coordinating therapy to ensure timely and complete hepatitis C treatment.
I’m excited to receive a grant for this project because it represents an opportunity to generate evidence that directly supports health equity and pharmacist-led care. By evaluating pharmacist collaboration in street medicine, we can better understand how to overcome barriers to Hepatitis C cure in an often-overlooked population and create a model that can be expanded to other underserved communities.