Big Picture - April & May

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.

Spring has been busy here at the Office of HIV Planning! We moved to our new office on the 3^rd floor of the building, in Suite 320. With all the difficulty of moving, we missed April’s Big Picture post, so we’ll cover both April and May here.

Finance Committee (May 12^th):

The Philadelphia EMA received a $162,000 increase in their Ryan White Part A funding this year. The Finance Committee looked over and approved budgets for Philadelphia, the PA suburban counties, and NJ. Because of HRSA Policy Clarification 16-02, the EMA’s emergency medication program cannot be funded the same way anymore.  Money to support the program was moved from the Local Pharmaceutical Assistance Program (LPAP) to Direct Emergency Financial Assistance (DEFA). Representatives from the AIDS Activities Coordinating Office (AACO) also requested that the Planning Council move $84,000 from LPAP to referral for healthcare and supportive services.

Ryan White Part A grant allocations meetings for the fiscal year 2017 will be held in June. The Pennsylvania allocations meeting will be June 14^th, Philadelphia will be on June 16^th, and NJ on June 21^st. The meetings will run from 1-4pm.

Needs Assessment Committee (April 11^th):

The results of the Needs Assessment Committee’s transportation survey are in. Case managers who responded to the survey talked about common issues with getting clients to and from medical appointments. Logisticare and SEPTA tokens were mentioned in a lot of the responses. The committee plans to look into issues with Logisticare and will possibly write a transportation resource list for case managers.

New Member Orientation/Nominations Committee (April 14^th & May 19^th):

The Planning Council welcomed 4 new members in April. They were invited to attend an orientation, where they learned about their responsibilities as Planning Council members. Debbie also gave an overview of the Ryan White Part A planning process.

In May, the Nominations Committee looked over Planning Council attendance. They’ll follow up with members who have attendance issues. They also reviewed the attendance policy. Members who have 3 unexcused absences or miss 5 meetings in a calendar year may be removed from the Planning Council. Anyone with a circumstance that keeps them from coming to meetings (for instance, an illness) should contact the office. Members should also try to arrive to meetings on time.

Ryan White Planning Council (April 14^th & May 19^th):

April: Evelyn Torres and Sebastian Branca from AACO gave a presentation on AACO’s Client Services Unit (CSU) at a joint meeting with the HIV Prevention Planning Group. The CSU helps to get people with HIV into case management and other services. AACO’s Health Information Helpline (1-800-985-2437) also provides information to callers from 8am-6pm Monday through Friday. Sebastian talked about the ways AACO follows up with HIV service organizations to see well they’re doing.  AACO uses data to see which organizations need help to improve their performance, and then helps organizations make plans for how they’ll do better.

May: The Finance Committee presented the budget for this year’s Ryan White Part A grant. The Planning Council voted to approve the budget, along with the grantee’s request to move $84,000 from LPAP to referral for healthcare and supportive services.

Positive Committee (May 9^th):

Antonio gave the Positive Committee a presentation on the 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). Philadelphia public high school students were asked about tobacco use, alcohol and drug use, body weight and activity, sex, and violence. You can see more information on Antonio’s slides here.

Nicole told the group about the OHP’s focus groups with high-risk heterosexuals. Participants in the focus groups talked about their experiences with healthcare in Philadelphia. You can read Nicole’s slides here. Also check out her full report along with her recent blog post, where she talks more about what she learned from the focus groups.

Comp Planning (April 21^st & May 26^th):

April: Nicole also gave her focus group presentation to the Comprehensive Planning Committee.

The Comprehensive Planning Committee looked over the Needs Assessment Committee’s transportation survey results. They agreed to brainstorm and work together with Needs Assessment on transportation issues.

The use of opioid medications and heroin is a huge problem in Philadelphia. Overdose deaths are on the rise. Hepatitis C rates among heroin users are also skyrocketing. The Comprehensive Planning Committee will continue to discuss the opioid epidemic at future meetings.

May: The Comprehensive Planning Committee has talked about a retention navigation program, transportation, housing, and health insurance premium cost-sharing over the last year. They asked AACO to look into a health insurance premium cost-sharing program for the Philadelphia EMA. The Positive Committee will address transportation at their next meeting. The Comprehensive Planning Committee will bring up the retention navigation model at this month’s Finance Committee and allocations meetings. The Planning Council will ultimately decide whether to fund the program.

HPG (April 27^th):

Kathleen Brady, AACO’s medical director, gave her annual report on the HIV epidemic in Philadelphia. The National HIV/AIDS Strategy and the HIV Care Continuum were an important focus of her presentation. See Kathleen’s slides for more information.

We hope to see you all at June’s allocations meetings!

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.

Big Picture - March 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

HRSA’s Policy Clarification 16-02 sets rules about what can be funded by Ryan White. The clarification changes how the EMA can fund local AIDS pharmaceutical assistance. It also means the EMA can now fund syringe access programs.

The Finance Committee voted to approve a reallocation request from the AIDS Activities Coordinating Office (AACO). AACO representatives asked that money be moved from Medical Case Management to Information and Referral Services to support the Health Information Helpline. They said the change would not affect case management services.

Integrated Executive Committee

The Co-Chairs of the Planning Council, HPG, and their committees met to discuss areas where they can work together, including the Integrated Plan. They talked about HIV stigma and HIV testing. They also agreed to invite a presenter on trauma-informed care in the future. The Positive Committee will discuss Medicare/Medicaid and peer support programs.

Ryan White Planning Council

The Planning Council approved the Finance Committee’s request to reallocate money from Case Management to Information and Referral Services.

Positive Committee

David Griffith from the LGBT Elder Initiative discussed some upcoming events about HIV and Aging. You can find more information on the LGBTEI website.

The Positive Committee had a conversation about Medicare and Medicaid. They’re hoping to bring in a speaker to talk about Medicaid in the future. They’ll also be discussing Peer Support programs at their next meeting.

Comp Planning

The Comp Planning Committee looked through information about marketplace insurance programs. They also reviewed data on insured and uninsured people living with HIV and AIDS in Philadelphia. Updated insurance information will be available soon. The Committee is going to continue discussing a Health Insurance Premium Cost-Sharing program after they see more data.

They also finished their conversation on Housing as it affects health. Many people living with HIV and AIDS in Philadelphia need housing and can’t get it. Increased funding for housing may help shorten the waiting list for HIV/AIDS housing programs.

Needs Assessment Committee

The Needs Assessment Committee’s transportation survey got sent out to providers in early March. The survey has received a lot of responses already. Some providers said that they have issues with Logisticare. Some patients do not receive their day passes on time, or their rides do not arrive on schedule. Some people also have issues getting SEPTA tokens.

HPG

Dr. Anne Frankel from Temple University and Judith Peters from the Philadelphia School Board came to talk about last year’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). The survey asks high school students about smoking; drinking and drug use; weight, nutrition, and activity; sex; violence; and mental health. You can find slides from their presentation here.

Nominations Committee

The Nominations Committee reviewed applications for Planning Council membership. The Planning Council welcomes 4 new members! New Member Orientation will be held April 14^th from 11am-2pm. Current Planning Council members can stop by orientation around 1pm to talk about their committees.

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.

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.

Big Picture - January 2016

Happy 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

Chris Chu from the AIDS Activities Coordinating Office (AACO) presented AACO’s quarterly underspending report to the Finance Committee. The EMA has spent 14% less than the Planning Council allocated for the past 9 months. Transportation in New Jersey had particularly low spending.

AACO requested that they be allowed to use the underspent funds for other services, like Food Bank and Medications. The Finance Committee approved the request.

Positive Committe

The Positive Committee will be inviting representatives from the LGBT Elder Initiative (LGBTEI) to their April meeting. They will discuss topics like mental health, nutrition, and exercise.

Briana gave a presentation about the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) in Philadelphia. You can read more about the NHAS here. The new NHAS targets gay and bisexual men, Black women and men, Latino men and women, people who inject drugs, youth, and transgender women. These are the groups most affected by HIV and AIDS in the US. The Office of HIV Planning Epidemiologic Profile gives more information on all these groups in Philadelphia. You can find the Epi Profile on our website.

Needs Assessment Committee

The Needs Assessment Committee has been working on a transportation survey for the past several months. They’re putting some finishing touches on the survey and will be sending it out to local service providers soon.

Nominations Committee

The Nominations Committee is still looking for new Planning Council members. The Planning Council needs members from hospital or health care planning agencies, state Medicaid and Part B agencies, Part D grantees, Federally Recognized Indian Tribes, and people co-infected with Hepatitis B or C. If you are anyone you know is interested in applying to be a member, please visit our website for an application.

The Nominations Committee is hosting a Planning Council social after the meeting on February 11^th. Please bring your friends! There will be food, activities, and a raffle for some awesome door prizes.

HPG/Planning Council combined meeting

The HPG and Planning Council combined their meetings this month. They had some guests talk about HIV and Aging (Terri Clark from ActionAIDS, and Kate Clark and Katie Young from the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging). Older people are too often left out when we talk about sexual health and risk. Many people living with HIV and AIDS in the US are over the age of 50. You can view the presentation here.

Dr. Robert Winn from the Mazzoni Center also came by to talk about their PrEP program. The Mazzoni Center had 500 patients taking PrEP in 2015. They’re working hard to get the word out about PrEP. They’ll be opening a free clinic at the Washington West Project in the future.

AACO presented their underspending report. The Planning Council voted to approve AACO’s request to use underspent funds for other categories.

Comp Planning

The Comp Planning Committee brainstormed their perfect HIV and AIDS service system. Some things they’d like to see are needle exchange programs, comprehensive sex education, and campaigns to reduce the stigma of HIV and AIDS. Co-chairs from the RWPC and the HPG will meet at an Integrated Executive Committee meeting to discuss these ideas.

Nicole gave the group some handouts about structural interventions (you can view meeting packets on our website). Structural interventions change the context in which people make choices about health behaviors. Providing people with food and housing are structural interventions. Many people living with HIV and AIDS in Philadelphia need housing, and there isn’t much available. The Comp Planning Committee is going to continue discussing this at their next meeting.

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.

Big Picture - November 2015

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.

Positive Committee

The Positive Committee has been discussing transportation, along with their other healthcare needs. This month they reviewed the results of a survey they filled out at their last meeting. People who responded to the survey had few issues with transportation. The problems they did report were related to scheduling, delays with Medicaid transportation, tokens, and out of pocket costs.

The Positive Committee also did an interactive survey about medical care. They used clickers to answer questions about their satisfaction with doctors, clinical staff, and case managers. They talked about what kept them from getting to medical appointments or, on the other hand, what kept them in care.

Needs Assessment

The Needs Assessment Committee also reviewed the Positive Committee’s transportation survey. They brainstormed ways to resolve transportation issues. They’ve developed a transportation survey in their last few meetings, which they’ll be sending to HIV service providers in the near future.

Nominations Committee

The Nominations Committee discussed their agendas for the next year. Along with the usual membership recruitment activities, application review, and attendance review, they’ll host a Planning Council social on February 11^th. The social will be held at the OHP after the Planning Council meeting. A meeting for all the subcommittee Co-Chairs is tentatively scheduled for June.

HPG/Planning Council Combined Meeting

Dr. Helena Kwakwa from the Health Department presented on the City Health Centers’ PrEP program. She pointed out that people often underestimate their risk for HIV. However, many people they surveyed were interested in PrEP. She said that doctors should bring up PrEP during primary care appointments in order to reach more people.

Dr. Kwakwa also reported on the Health Centers’ SHIPP (Sustainable Health Centers Implementation PrEP Pilot) study. People on PrEP through the Health Center program are asked if they want to participate in the study. A majority of participants are regularly taking their PrEP medications (they are adherent). Most referrals for the program are coming from HIV testers in the Health Centers.  Many people who are referred don’t end up going on PrEP. However, staff of the program do all they can to get people who are interested to appointments so they can get on PrEP. Dr. Kwakwa again recommended that primary care doctors start talking to patients about PrEP.

Briana read off the 4 major goals for the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) for 2015-2020. The NHAS will guide the planning process over the next several years. The new target groups for the NHAS are gay, bisexual, and other MSM of all races and ethnicities, Black women and men, Latino men and women, people who inject drugs, youth aged 13-24, people in the Southern US, and transgender women. The Epi profile gives national and local statistics about HIV and AIDS for all these groups. You can read the full Epi Profile on our website.

Nicole reviewed the guidance for the Integrated Care and Prevention Plan. The HPG and Planning Council are going to work together on the Plan over the next year.

Comp Planning

The Comprehensive Planning Committee reviewed the Goals and Objectives they developed in 2011 to prepare for the upcoming Integrated Care and Prevention Plan. 

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.

Big Picture - October 2015

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.

Finance Committee: The Finance Committee voted to allocate MAI (Minority AIDS Initiative) funds to Case Management and Ambulatory/Outpatient Health programs that serve minorities in Philadelphia.

Visitors from the AIDS Activities Coordinating Office (AACO) presented their quarterly spending report. After 6 months, this year’s Ryan White Grant is underspent by about 9%. In other words, the EMA has spent 9% less than the Planning Council’s total allocations for the year. Underspending is expected to decrease over the next 6 months.

David Gana was elected as Finance Committee Co-Chair.

New Member Orientation: 5 new members were invited to attend a RWPC orientation session on October 8^th. At orientation, they learned about the roles and responsibilities of Planning Council members. They also got a rundown of what Ryan White is and how the Planning Council plays a role in the HIV planning process.

Planning Council: The Planning Council approved the MAI allocations presented by the Finance Committee. They also heard AACO’s underspending report, as presented at the Finance Committee meeting. The Planning Council approved the Retention Navigation Model developed by the Comprehensive Planning Committee, which is designed to keep people in medical care (see last month’s big picture post for more).

Tre Alexander was re-elected for a 2 year term as Planning Council Co-Chair.

Briana Morgan gave a brief overview of the OHP Epidemiologic Profile. You can find the Epi Profile, and an Executive Summary, on our website.

Comp Planning: The Comprehensive Planning Committee reviewed the guidance (instructions) for the next Integrated Care and Prevention Plan. The plan will describe the HIV epidemic in Philadelphia, what we’re doing about it, and our goals for the future. The Planning Council and HPG will be working together on the Integrated Plan throughout the next year.

Positive Committee: The Positive Committee elected Nancy Santiago as their new Co-Chair. Nancy leads a group called Huracán, which has brought Spanish-speakers to the last several Positive Committee meetings. Nancy hopes to represent the Latino community in Philadelphia.

The group brainstormed topics for future meetings. Some participants suggested HIV and aging, transportation, homelessness, and stress reduction, among other topics.

Nicole distributed a survey about transportation. The Planning Council is currently looking into issues that people are having with transportation so that these issues can be remedied in the future.

Needs Assessment: The Needs Assessment Committee reviewed a transportation survey they’ve been developing for providers. The survey will be distributed in the coming months. Together, the surveys of providers and consumers will allow the Planning Council to address common issues with transportation.

HPG: The HPG continued talking about PrEP and its future in Philadelphia. Co-Chair Jen Chapman spoke about a recent journal article published in Current Opinion on HIV and AIDS (abstract here). The article covers the role of healthcare providers in introducing PrEP into the community. It describes the way specialists (Infectious Disease/HIV doctors) and primary care physicians can help get PrEP to more people. Promoting PrEP to doctors and educating them is key to getting PrEP rolled out in places like Philadelphia.

Two young men who take PrEP visited the HPG to talk about their experiences. They described the process they went through to get on PrEP. They also brought up problems they’ve had with getting their medication. The young men said they’d gotten both positive and negative responses from friends, and they’d come across others who don’t know what PrEP is. The group wrapped up by discussing how the Health Department will market PrEP to people in Philadelphia. 

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.

Big Picture - September 2015

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.

Linking Clients to Care: A New Tool

It's a common enough story: someone is diagnosed with HIV. That person is told she needs to visit the doctor as soon as possible. Maybe that person calls for an appointment, and maybe she doesn't - but that person doesn't make it to the doctor that week. Or that month. It could be a child care problem, or a transportation problem, or an appointment availability problem.

But in some cases, it's just that people who were just diagnosed with HIV don't know that there is a system of care available to them -- even if they can't pay for services. In 2010, 18% of newly-diagnosed Philadelphians with HIV weren't linked to care within 90 days. We don't know each person's reasons for not getting medical care right away, but lack of knowledge of the care system is an obvious barrier for newly-diagnosed clients. In fact, through our local needs assessments, we've repeatedly found that many people living with HIV/AIDS report not accessing medical care because they couldn't afford it. We're lucky enough to have a comprehensive system of services available through Ryan White, but newly-diagnosed clients won't know about it if no one tells them it's there.



Here's a preview. Download a copy here.

At the same time, we know that it's not always easy for HIV testers to give consistent messaging while getting important information from their clients.  Enter, our new linkage to care tool. We hope that this tool will relieve some of the burden on HIV testers, increase access to care and other services for newly-diagnosed people with HIV, and improve linkage to care performance for our local provider sites.



We developed this tool after an extensive review of treatment readiness assessments in use across the country, and reduced the questions to the most relevant ones for helping clients with their initial linkage to care.  It was developed in partnership with the Points of Integration Workgroup, which spent a great deal of time honing both the language and the questions.  The tool was then presented to both the Philadelphia EMA Ryan White Part A Planning Council and the Philadelphia HIV Prevention Planning Group for additional feedback and adjustments.

We would like to note that we developed this tool as an aid for providers, and we designed it to help individual HIV testers improve access to services for their clients (and, by extension, to improve their own performance). This tool was not designed for data collection. Testers might decide to make copies and use a separate form for each client, in order to provide an “at a glance” summary of what is most needed to make that first linkage.  They might use pieces of this tool as a supplement to their own routines.  They might keep a copy with them to use as a discussion guide.  How they use the tool is up to them, but we do hope that it proves useful in their day-to-day work.

Of course, like all of our documents, this is free to distribute and reproduce.  We made it in black and white to be copier-friendly. We also included fainter lines in the notes section, allowing the neater testers among us to write along the lines and the more out-of-the-box testers to write willy-nilly in whatever direction they choose. We wanted this to be as user-friendly as possible. In that spirit, we welcome feedback and suggestions. Feel free to comment here, or use the contact information on the form to get in touch.

Download the linkage to care tool here - and share widely!
 

What is the RWPC?

Have you been wondering what on earth this "Planning Council" is? Watch this short Prezi and find out!

What is the RWPC? on Prezi