Evaluating HIV/AIDS Treatment Programs

Create effective community-based programs for substance abusers with HIV/AIDS!Substance abusers are the fastest-growing population of people with HIV/AIDS in the US--and one of the hardest to reach and treat. Evaluating HIV/AIDS Treatment Programs offers new strategies for providing care for this vulnerable population. The programs evaluated and discussed in this volume were funded as part of the DHHS Health Resources and Services Administration through its Special Projects of National Significance Program. Collectively known as the SPNS Cooperative Agreement, these 27 projects represent a diverse group of organizations with a common goal: to improve the health, quality of life, and access to health care for traditionally underserved populations living with HIV/AIDS.Evaluating HIV/AIDS Treatment Programs reports in detail the efforts of several community-based HIV/AIDS organizations in the SPNS program. You will learn how these organizations provide high-quality care for persons with HIV who are unlikely to obtain it in the traditional hospital-based service system. This volume offers specific, proven strategies designed to overcome the linguistic, cultural, racial, and economic barriers that make it difficult for some sick people to get the health care they need. It also offers specialized medical care models that work within the context of a continuum of services in a medical clinic.Evaluating HIV/AIDS Treatment Programs also highlights other aspects of the Cooperative Agreement projects, including: - a study of end-stage AIDS care - an overview of the HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau SPNS Cooperative Agreement grant initiative - a study of conceptual issues in implementing program evaluation in real-world community organizations - discussion of the online Knowledge Base that summarizes and disseminates information from the Cooperative Agreement projects - studies of ways to reach and care for specific populations with HIV/AIDS, including women, Latinos, Haitians, adolescents, and rural peopleThis valuable volume offers solid data on treating people who are all too often neglected by the medical community even before they contract HIV/AIDS. The programs and ideas presented in Evaluating HIV/AIDS Treatment Programs can be applied to other community-based health initiatives and clinics offering medical care to underserved and vulnerable populations. This essential resource deserves a permanent place on their bookshelf of any physician, administrator, or policymaker working in the fields of HIBV/AIDS, epidemiology, public health, or substance abuse. Visit the book's website at http://www.TheMeasurementGroup.com/drugs_and_society.htm

George J Huba, Lisa A Melchior, Vivian Brown, A.T. Panter, Trudy A. Larson, Pauline Fitzpatrick

Contents - Foreword - Introduction - A National Program of AIDS Care Projects and Their Cross-Cutting Evaluation: The HRSA SPNS Cooperative Agreements - Conceptual Issues in Implementing and Using Evaluation in the "Real World" Setting of a Community-Based Organization for HIV/AIDS Services - Lessons Learned in Reducing Barriers to Care: Reflections from the Community Perspective - Integrating and Utilizing Evaluation in Comprehensive HIV Care Programs - A Continuum of Care Model for Adolescents Living with HIV: Larkin Street Youth Center - Drug and Alcohol Use Among Boston's Haitian Community: A Hidden Problem Unveiled by CCHER's Enhanced Innovative Case Management Program - The Fortune Society's Latino Discharge Planning: A Model of Comprehensive Care for HIV-Positive Ex-Offenders - The Impact of an Intervention Program for HIV-Positive Women on Well-Being, Substance Abuse, Physical Symptoms, and Depression - Practical Issues in Evaluating a Self-Structured Psychosocial and Medical Support Program for Women with HIV/AIDS: PROTOTYPES WomensLink, a Community-Based Organization - Substance Abuse and Health Services Utilization Among Women in a Comprehensive HIV Program - Issues in Implementing and Evaluating a Managed Care Home Health Care System for HIV/AIDS: Visiting Nurse Association Foundation of Los Angeles - Injection Drug Use (IDU) Related Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection in Rural Vermont: A Comparison with Non-IDU Related Infections - Evaluation of Status and Progression of HIV Disease: Use of a Computerized Medical Module - Index - Reference Notes Included