HIV Self-Test Videos with Dr. Daskalakis

Transcript (Taking an HIV self-test!):

I’m Dr. Demetre, and I’m your HIV doctor.

So, you’ve gotten your HIV self test…let’s unbox it together and see what’s in there and how to do it.

Step one, open the box.

Step two, always really important to take a look at all of the directions. So, thumb through, read them all to make sure that you know what you’re doing.

Now there’s a little drawer. Pull the drawer out, two little envelopes.

The first one is going to be the reagent. So, it’s a little test tube that you’re going to use to put the test in.

So, your first step is to take the test tube out, pop it open, don’t do anything else other than…pop it into the spot in the kit where it goes.

Take a look. It’s right there.

Next step, use the swab to get the specimen. Here’s what it looks like. That’s a little paddle.

You take the paddle, you swipe the top of your gums and you swipe the bottom of your gums…and you put that into the tube.

Don’t forget to set a timer for 20 minutes. So, here we go.

Then, it goes right inside the tube. And then the clock is ticking…20 minutes.

When you see the result, there’s two areas on the testing kit. There’s a little part that says C and a little part that says T.

C means the control. It means that the test worked if there’s a line there.

The T is the actual HIV test. No line equals HIV negative.

A line means preliminary positive and it’s important to…go see a healthcare provider to get confirmatory testing…and, if you need to, connect to care.

Also, don’t forget if there’s no second line, if the test is negative, it’s a really good time to think about PrEP.

No matter what the result is. Any answer is a good one, cuz…there’s always options that will help you protect your health.

Transcript (Together Take Me Home): 

I am Doctor Demetre, and I am your HIV doctor.

Together Take Me Home is a really exciting program…to make it really easy for people to get home-based [HIV] testing.

You go online, you fill out a little bit of information and a testing kit gets sent to your house. It is in very subtle packaging. So, it’s not landing as an HIV test…it’s pretty anonymous.

And, not only can you get one, but you can get two. And, that means that you can give one to a friend…or a sex partner so they can know their HIV status too.

It lets you really take control of your own sort of HIV story and your own health.

If it’s negative, you can think about pre-exposure prophylaxis.

And, if it’s positive, that’s really a call to action to go follow up with a healthcare professional, whether it’s a nurse or a doctor or other, just to make sure that you confirm that test…and also connect to care.