The Big Picture is back! This post is part of a monthly series that summarizes what's been going on in the Ryan White Planning Council, HIV Prevention Planning Group, and their subcommittees. To view meeting materials and presentations, please visit www.hivphilly.org or check out our SlideShare account.
Nominations: The Nominations
Committee approved 15 applications, including 5 new members.
RWPC:
Coleman
Terrell, Director of the AIDS Activities Coordinating Office (AACO), reported
on the MAI and the CoRECT program.
MAI
The Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI) is a
federal program designed to meet the needs of minority individuals living with
HIV and AIDS. The Philadelphia EMA currently receives around $2 million in MAI
funding. This funds several Medical Case Management and Ambulatory (Outpatient)
Health programs that serve minorities. AACO requested that funding for these
programs continue at the same level.
CoRECT
The Co-operative RE-engagement
Controlled Trial (CoRECT) is a project funded by the CDC through 2019. The
program gets (links) and keeps (retains) people with HIV in care. The program
targets patients who have never attended or who have stopped attending
appointments. Health Department staff meet face-to-face with these patients to
help them get in care.
NHAS
The National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) aims
to reduce the impact of HIV nationwide. It encourages a wide variety of
governmental bodies and organizations to work together toward common goals.
The first NHAS began in 2010, around
the same time that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was introduced, and ran for 5
years. The updated NHAS for 2015-2020 came out in August.
Several changes have been made in the new NHAS; you can read about a few of
them on this fact sheet. Here’s another infographic that reviews some key
points about the update. We’ll post more about the NHAS in the
future.
Positive
AACO’s
Evelyn Torres presented on the Direct Emergency Financial Assistance program
(DEFA), and Gary Tumolo of Philadelphia’s Office of Housing and Community
Development (OHCD) presented on housing.
DEFA
The Direct Emergency Financial
Assistance program offers emergency food, rent, utilities, transportation, and
short-term medication assistance for people living with HIV and AIDS. You can
read more about the DEFA program in this guide.
Housing
HOPWA is a national program providing
housing for people with HIV and AIDS. In Philadelphia, 340 households are on
the HOPWA waiting list, with an average wait time of 7 years. (People with AIDS
who are street homeless wait about 1 year.) The Section 8 waiting list is
closed. Project HOME is one alternative housing program. The PHFA website also lists some housing programs for seniors
and people with disabilities, along with other affordable housing options.
Co-Chair Nominations
Dave Gana has reached the end of his
two-year term as Positive Committee Co-Chair, so it’s time for the committee to
elect a new Co-Chair. Several participants were nominated, and each nominee
will give a short speech at the October Positive Committee meeting. Stay tuned
for election results!
Needs Assessment
The Needs
Assessment Committee reviewed the results of a recent provider survey on AACO’s
local pharmaceutical program. They also created a transportation survey for
providers, based on a request from the allocations meetings. Results of the
survey will be available at next month’s meeting.
Comp Planning
Evelyn
Torres shared further information about AACO’s linkage to care activities in
Philadelphia with the Comprehensive Planning Committee (CPC). Philadelphia
recently received a few CDC grants, which will fund general prevention efforts,
patient navigation, and PrEP.
Based on
previous conversations, Nicole Johns introduced a plan for a retention navigation
model, designed to keep patients in medical care. The pilot program would occur
at one-stop-shop medical clinics in the Philadelphia area.
HPG
PrEP
The HPG has been doing a lot of work
around PrEP, a promising new method for preventing HIV transmission. PrEP has
not yet been fully implemented in the Philadelphia area. The HPG hopes to help
change that!
Dr. Helena Kwakwa of the City Health
Center’s PrEP program gave the HPG some information about the program, which offers
PrEP at all 8 of the city’s Health Centers. The program currently prescribes
PrEP to 80 HIV-negative individuals.
The HPG is inviting young men with
experience taking PrEP to their October HPG meeting.
Integrated
Plan Guidance
The HPG discussed the federal
government’s guidance for the Integrated Care and Prevention Plan, due in 2016.
The plan will describe what Philadelphia has done and plans to do to address
the HIV epidemic in our area. The HPG will hold several joint meetings with the
Planning Council to prepare for the plan.
General: We would like to
welcome our newest staff member, Antonio Boone. Antonio has a background in
prevention education. He has worked with St. Christopher’s Hospital,
Philadelphia FIGHT, and the Drexel University SWEAT program. Antonio will be
working as a Health Planner, specializing in PrEP and other areas of HIV
prevention.
Want to get involved? To learn more, follow the links in this post, attend one of the meetings listed on our calendar, or email info@hivphilly.org. If you have questions, you can also call us at 215-574-6760.
