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June 2004 On Monday, June 14, the National Organizations Responding to AIDS (NORA) coalition, for which AIDS Action serves as the convener, held its monthly meeting. The meeting featured Connecting to Care, an AIDS Action initiative addressing "unmet need" in HIV, and the presenters were AIDS Action Program Associate Iris Ovadiya and Media and Policy Associate Noemi Perez. As Ms. Ovadiya explained in her overview of the initiative, Connecting to Care is a new way for AIDS service providers, community-based organizations, and others who provide care and support to people living with HIV to understand and address what the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) defines as “unmet need” in HIV. According to HRSA, unmet need is “individuals who are living with HIV, are aware of their status, and are not receiving regular primary medical care.” When the Ryan White CARE Act was reauthorized in 2000, HRSA was mandated by Congress (via amendments to the original CARE Act legislation) to prioritize efforts to identify unmet need and implement methods that address it. Connecting to Care was developed by AIDS Action through a cooperative agreement with HRSA. The initiative involved the development of a workbook, Connecting to Care: Addressing Unmet Need in HIV. The workbook examines methods that organizations are using to identify people who are aware of their HIV positive status but are not in regular medical care and "connect" them to such care. In addition, it provides information on how these programs might be replicated. The workbook has been disseminated to thousands of HIV health care providers across the country. AIDS Action is now beginning the second phase of the initiative, which involves the following steps: evaluation of the workbook’s utility, workshops that provide instruction on implementing the methods outlined in the workbook, and further promotion of the initiative. As part of their presentation, Ms. Ovadiya and Ms. Perez walked coalition members through the contents of the Connecting to Care: Addressing Unmet Need in HIV, highlighting some of its features. One of the things they emphasized was the extent to which the workbook is interactive; readers are encouraged to find their own way through the material, rather than follow the conventional cover to cover path. The workbook contains sections for notes and comments, and includes a perforated, postage-paid feedback form for return to AIDS Action. They presenters noted how comprehensive the book is—pointing out the diversity of activities, organizations, target populations, and service professionals that are featured in its pages. Finally, they shared some of the preliminary feedback they have received from those who are using the workbook. At the conclusion of the presentation, NORA members had the opportunity to ask questions and engage in dialogue about Connecting to Care. Ms. Ovadiya and Ms. Perez were asked to go into more detail about how the cities researched for Connecting to Care were chosen. Ms. Ovadiya explained that the nine selected cities were chosen in consultation with HRSA and were intended to represent a diverse mix of demographics and geography. AIDS Action was also interested in focusing attention on cities that had not been studied before, which is why many of the larger metropolitan areas were not chosen. NORA members were interested in hearing more about the kind of feedback that has been received thus far on the workbook. Here the presenters noted that they are only in the preliminary stages of gathering feedback; so it is premature to catalogue and analyze it--although they hope to be able to do so in the future. Following the main presentation, coalition members heard a legislative update from NORA Executive Committee member Donna Crews of AIDS Action, who shared updates on the current status of the budget and appropriations process for fiscal year 2005. Ms. Crews also gave an overview of the recent released Institute of Medicine (IOM) report on the public financing of HIV care. Finally, the meeting ended with updates from the NORA Working Groups, and the announcement that the Prevention and Research Working Groups have reformed and are looking for new members. For more information about the Connecting to Care initiative and workbook, visit: http://www.connectingtocare.net. For more information about NORA, e-mail Jessica Tytel at jtytel@aidsaction.org. |
