3121.0: Monday, October 22, 2001 - Table 6

Abstract #25271

Implementing HIV prevention in correctional facilities: Addressing the service needs of arrestees and short-term detainees

Monica L. Baskin, PhD, Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road, NE, Atlanta, GA 30322, 404-727-5129, mbaskin@sph.emory.edu, Ronald Braithwaite, PhD, Department of Behavioral Sciences & Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health, 1518 Clifton Road, NE, Room 564, Atlanta, GA 30322, Theodore Hammett, PhD, Abt Associates, Inc, 55 Wheeler Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, and Michael Ward, PhD, AIDS Administration, 500 N. Calvert Street, 5th Floor, Baltimore, MD 21202.

Incarcerated populations are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases such as sexually transmitted infections, tuberculosis, and hepatitis (Hammett, et al., 1998). This problem is further exacerbated by these individuals' limited access to quality health care, education, and risk reduction programs (Schoenfisch & Walsh, 1996). As the vast majority of these persons return to the community, comprehensive HIV prevention services are needed within correctional facilities to reduce the risk factors associated with transmission of HIV. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Health Resource and Service Administration have provided funding for five demonstration projects to develop and evaluate Prevention for HIV-Infected Persons (PHIP). Among the programs currently receiving funding from this initiative is Project Connect in Baltimore, MD. Arrestees and short-term detainees in two local jurisdictions are offered comprehensive HIV-prevention services including counseling and testing, partner counseling and referral services, prevention case management and HIV education sessions. Process data obtained from these interventions will be presented to support the feasibility of conducting HIV-prevention in correctional settings. The presenters will further explore some of the challenges to implementing such services and will offer suggestions on overcoming such barriers.

Learning Objectives: 1. Articulate the service needs of HIV infected persons in correctional facilities. 2. Describe a demonstration project that offers HIV prevention services in correctional facilities in two jurisdictions. 3. Present process data that support the feasibility of implementing HIV prevention services in jails.

Keywords: HIV Interventions, Correctional Facility

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Montgomery County Health Department; Prince George's County Health Department; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Health Resource and Service Administration
Disclosure not received
Relationship: Not Received.

The 129th Annual Meeting of APHA