Regional consultations

Various public health and HIV policies affect the funding of community-based organizations (CBOs).  As a result, CBOs have experienced an alteration in the way in which services have to be delivered; many HIV prevention CBOs feel uncertain of their viability in this new healthcare system. Many find that they have to shut their doors or seek new solutions such as partnerships with clinical providers in order to remain relevant and of benefit to their constituents.

The clinical provider and CBO partnerships entail several things, such as establishing trust, promoting the benefits of their respective organizations for a partnership, marketing their services, crafting MOUS and most importantly, learning to speak the language of the each other.

To facilitate the policy shift and partnerships, we coordinated and convened these consultations to help organizations and clinical providers begin the process of partnering in this new policy landscape.The method of convening these consultations was based on science.  We held three regional meetings each with up to fifty participants, CBO members as well as clinicians.  They were contracted facilitators who lead the discussions of topics such as communication and mission creep.  Following the meetings the data from both sectors revealed that the objectives were met.  Qualitative data from focus group interviews revealed that many of the participants felt the benefit of meeting and working together and were satisfied that this was an important beginning.  It was also a map to help define the roles and navigate the implementation of partnerships between the groups.