Improving TB control quality among people experiencing homelessness: New treatments, partnerships & no new disease

This workshop will focus on changes in TB control in homeless populations that have resulted in improved quality of health care delivery models, partnerships among homeless services providers, local health departments and governmental agencies, and most importantly, quality of life for people without homes. We will present the summary proceedings from a CDC-sponsored workshop on TB among persons experiencing homelessness, which gathered shelter staff and directors, homeless advocates, healthcare department representatives and TB controllers to discuss improved TB control in their local jurisdictions. The presentation will address administrative and respiratory controls, housing for patients with active TB, basic infection control, and the role of partner agencies. We will highlight common barriers and challenges to TB control and provide educational resources for addressing these challenges. The workshop will include a focus on the city-wide response to a large TB outbreak, led by the director of the local HCH program, which included education, screening and testing programs, and shelter standards. Improved testing and shortened regimens for treatment of latent TB infection will be discussed as ways of improving quality of life for patients with TB infection and TB disease.