The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #66114

Richard Conviser, PhD¹, Moses B. Pounds, PhD¹, Christopher H. Bates, BS², DaDera L. Moore, MSW, MPH², Johanne Messore³, Virginia Bourassa⁴, and Alice Kroliczak, PhD⁵. (1) Office of Science and Epidemiology, HIV/AIDS Bureau, HRSA, Dept. of Health & Human Services, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rm 7C07, Rockville, MD 20857, 301-443-3075, rconviser@hrsa.gov, (2) Office of Public Health Sciences/Office of HIV/AIDS Policy, U.S Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Ave, SW, Room 736E, Washington, DC 20201, (3) Health Resources & Services Administration, HIV/AIDS Bureau, Department of Health & Human Services, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rm 7A39, Rockville, MD 20857, (4) Department of Health & Human Services, Health Resources & Services Administration, HIV/AIDS Bureau, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rm 7-36, Rockville, MD 20857, (5) HAB/OSE, Health Resources and Services Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rm. 7-90, Rockville, MD 20857

The CARE Act requires that its State and metropolitan area grantees conduct regular needs assessments to determine priorities for allocation of grant funds among a range of health and support services. Despite required planning body representation from affected populations, HIV service providers, and community leaders, service systems in metropolitan areas may not be responsive to the needs of emerging populations of people living with HIV, particularly those not in care. The Office of HIV/AIDS Policy, Department of Health and Human Services, has developed and applied RARE techniques (focus groups, interviews, street surveys, social observation, and social mapping) for HIV prevention planning. This paper describes the transformation of these techniques for use in services planning. Such transformation is necessary because prevention planning looks at acts of commission (HIV risk activities), while service planning examines acts of omission (lack of regular engagement in the service system). This project is being piloted in three sites. Teams at each site will also conduct analyses of their local service systems on a number of structural (service comprehensiveness, capacity, integration, accessibility) and cultural dimensions (service acceptability, provider knowledge/skill base, client centeredness) to assess how characteristics of the systems may be contributing to barriers to access to care. The RARE findings will be examined in light of the service system analyses to generate recommendations for changes in the service system that will reduce disparities in access to and use of services. The project will track the adoption of these recommendations by planning bodies and grant administrators.

Learning Objectives:

Learning Objectives The participant in this session will learn about
• some of the challenges in planning services for vulnerable, underserved populations,
• what RARE techniques are and how they obtain grass-roots information,
• an analytical framework for assessing systems of HIV care, and
• how communities are using RARE techniques for services planning.

Keywords: Community Health Planning, HIV/AIDS

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.