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

Abstract #69918

Jana Kay Slater, PhD¹, Norm Constantine, PhD¹, and Julie Gallelo, MPH². (1) Center for Research on Adolescent Health and Development, Public Health Institute, 2001 Addison Street, 2nd Floor, Berkeley, CA 94704, 530-756-0146, jslater@phi.org, (2) Public Health Promotion and Education Division, Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services, 9719 Lincoln Village Drive, Suite 300A, Sacramento, CA 95827

Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) can be well situated to meet the HIV/AIDS prevention and education needs of those at highest risk for infection; in many communities a constellation of CBOs is funded to meet these needs. Client needs are best met when CBOs work collaboratively, referring clients to the most appropriate CBO. A multi-site evaluation was conducted to evaluate implementation in seven CBOs within a northern California city. Service providers, administrators, and contract monitors were interviewed; program activities and meetings were observed; and a community focus group was conducted. To identify patterns within and across sites, data were organized and summarized into three levels of analytic matrices (site-level, cross-site, and site-ordered meta matrices). The evaluation revealed that while community health workers hold the notion of interagency collaboration in high regard, few are comfortable in referring their clients to other agencies, and opportunities for effective referrals are frequently missed. Certain conditions are necessary before collaboration is embraced and a client is referred to another agency. One service provider described it as “an act of trust to refer a client to another agency.” Issues of territoriality and competition for limited funding are impeding factors as well. Despite these impediments, community health workers expressed a strong desire to develop more collegial relationships with health workers in other CBOs. Subsequent support was provided to community health workers to design a community strategy to increase interagency collaboration. A description of the “Positive Interactions” strategy, designed and implemented by community health workers, will be provided.

Learning Objectives:

• Learning Objectives: Understand HIV/AIDS prevention community health worker attitudes about the value of interagency collaboration. Describe 5 factors that impede the interagency collaboration of community health workers. Articulate a strategy for enabling community health workers to address and resolve factors impeding interagency collaboration

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Prevention

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.