Nine Circles Community Health Centre and certain clinics, hospitals and doctors will provide pre- and post-test counseling with HIV testing. Pre-test counseling involves meeting with a volunteer, clinician, or doctor before your test to discuss any questions or concerns you may have about testing as well as the following points:

• risk activity
• what the HIV test determines
• potential implications of HIV+ or HIV- results
• reducing the risk for HIV/STI
• how the results will be handled
• informed consent - what it means
• the right to refuse or postpone testing after counseling

This pre-test counseling is confidential and done in private.

After you complete the pre-test counseling a small amount of blood will be taken from your arm and sent to the lab. This is done in private. It usually takes 10 days to 2 weeks to get your results back. You will return to the clinic, hospital, or doctor where you were tested and meet with a volunteer or staff member for post-test counseling. At this time you will receive your test results and discuss issues and concerns you may have about the results. This post-test counseling is confidential and done in private.

Pre- and post-test counseling is not offered everywhere and some sub-standard clinics and doctors may not follow the testing procedures outlined above.