Big Picture - February 2016

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.

Finance Committee

The Finance Committee approved a request from the AIDS Activities Coordinating Office (AACO) to move $33,000 in the PA suburban counties from Mental Health and Transportation to Dental. This year’s Ryan White Part A grant award has not been received yet. However, the Finance Committee approved a temporary level funding budget.

Positive Committee

The Positive Committee watched a Vice Magazine documentary on PrEP. You can see it for yourself here. 

Needs Assessment Committee

The Needs Assessment Committee did a test run of their transportation survey. It will be distributed to providers in March.

Ryan White Planning Council

On behalf of AACO, the Finance Committee asked the Planning Council to approve the $33,000 shift to Dental in the PA counties. They also presented the level funding budget. The Planning Council voted to approve both.

Planning Council Social!

The Planning Council had their annual social after the February meeting. I hope everyone had a great time. We ate snacks, gave out some door prizes, and got to know each other better. Thanks to all the Planning Council members and guests who showed up. Here’s a few pictures from the event, courtesy of Planning Council member Ed Campbell.

Comp Planning

HRSA recently put out a Ryan White Policy Clarification. The document defines what can and can’t be funded under Ryan White. You can read it here.

The Comp Planning Committee talked about 5 categories that will be affected by the policy clarification: Local AIDS Pharmaceutical Assistance, Non-Medical Case Management, Housing Assistance, Health Insurance Premium Cost-Sharing, and Syringe Access. The committee is going to start working on a Health Insurance Premium Cost-Sharing assistance program over the next few months.

HPG

Nicole did a report on 2014’s focus groups for heterosexuals at high risk of HIV. The participants talked about their positive and negative experiences with health care. They also made recommendations for how health care could be improved. Nicole will release a full report on the focus groups in March.

Antonio gave a presentation on PrEP. He went through PrEP campaigns from across the country. The best PrEP marketing campaigns used pictures that people could relate to. Their websites were simple and avoided listing too much information.

The HPG did an activity where they brainstormed their ideal service system. Some topics they brought up were routine HIV testing, syringe exchange, and decriminalization of drug use and sex work. The Ryan White Planning Council and HPG Co-Chairs will talk about these topics at the Integrated Executive Committee meeting later this month.

Tiffany Dominique talked about the recent Bench to Bus Stop Conference, held at the Mutter Museum on January 26^th. The conference promoted networking and encouraged health department representatives and researchers to work together on future projects.

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.