 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Robert L. Johnson, MD, FAAP, Pediatrics, Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, UMDNJ -- New Jersey Medical School, 185 S. Orange Avenue, Newark, NJ 07103, (973) 972 5277, rjohnson@umdnj.edu, Jaime Martinez, MD, CORE Center, Stoger Hospital of Cook County, 1900 S. Wood Street, Rm. 1115, Chicago, IL 60612, Geri Botwinick, MPA, Strategic Consulting Group, 1 Park Road, Maplewood, NJ 07040, Douglas Bell, PhD, Health Research and Policy Centers; School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, 5439 N. Magnolia, Chicago, IL 60640, Randall Sell, ScD, Mailman School of Public Health, Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University, 722 West 168th Street, 11th floor, New York, NY 10032, Lawrence Friedman, MD, Department of Pediatrics; Division of Adolescent Medicine, University of Miami, PO Box 016820, Miami, FL 33136, Sally Dodds, PhD, Dept of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Miami, 1695 NW 9th Avenue (D-21), Miami, FL 33136, Carl Silicano, Ali Forney Center, 807 9th Avenue, Suite 2A, New York, NY 10019, Kimberly Shaw, PhD, Mailman Segal Institute, Nova Southeastern University, 3301 College Avenue, Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33314, and Lynn Walker, Prevention, Education and Policy Department, Harlem United Community AIDS Center, 306 Lenox Avenue, Second Floor, New York, NY 10027.
New therapies are now available which prevent and/or effectively control opportunistic infections and slow the progression from HIV infection to AIDS. Optimally these improved outcomes are dependent on early diagnosis and early involvement in a continuum of HIV/AIDS care . However, most youth with HIV/AIDS are asymptomatic and unlikely to become aware of their HIV infection until they become symptomatic during their adulthood . Other youth who are aware of their diagnosis are often not effectively engaged in a “continuum of care.” Consequentially any effective, systematic approach to youth with HIV/AIDS must not only provide excellent adolescent-specific care, it must also seek out and engage the populations of adolescents and young adults who need care. The Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) program was developed by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to design and evaluate innovative program models intended to reach hard to find, marginalized, and underserved populations. During the 1996 – 2000 cycle, five projects were funded by HRSA and HOPWA to specifically target the development of holistic care models that responded to the unique circumstances of the HIV/AIDS epidemic among adolescents and young adults. The presentation will focus on a program design resulting from collaborative discussions among the project investigators. This comprehensive and iterative staged model for the identification and engagement of HIV-infected youth includes a continuum of critical service elements -- outreach, testing, stabilization, youth-friendly treatment, and retention strategies. The presentation will also include an analysis of the project’s outcomes and resultant health service recommendations.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: HRSA, Adolescents
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.