Evaluating HIV/AIDS Treatment Programs

Book excerpt: Create effective community-based programs for substance abusers with HIV/AIDS!Substance abusers are the fastest-growing population of people with HIV/AIDS in the US--and one of the hardest to reach and treat. Evaluating HIV/AIDS Treatment Programs offers new strategies for providing care for this vulnerable population. The programs evaluated and discussed in this volume were funded as part of the DHHS Health Resources and Services Administration through its Special Projects of National Significance Program. Collectively known as the SPNS Cooperative Agreement, these 27 projects represent a diverse group of organizations with a common goal: to improve the health, quality of life, and access to health care for traditionally underserved populations living with HIV/AIDS.Evaluating HIV/AIDS Treatment Programs reports in detail the efforts of several community-based HIV/AIDS organizations in the SPNS program. You will learn how these organizations provide high-quality care for persons with HIV who are unlikely to obtain it in the traditional hospital-based service system. This volume offers specific, proven strategies designed to overcome the linguistic, cultural, racial, and economic barriers that make it difficult for some sick people to get the health care they need. It also offers specialized medical care models that work within the context of a continuum of services in a medical clinic.Evaluating HIV/AIDS Treatment Programs also highlights other aspects of the Cooperative Agreement projects, including: a study of end-stage AIDS care an overview of the HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau SPNS Cooperative Agreement grant initiative a study of conceptual issues in implementing program evaluation in real-world community organizations discussion of the online Knowledge Base that summarizes and disseminates information from the Cooperative Agreement projects studies of ways to reach and care for specific populations with HIV/AIDS, including women, Latinos, Haitians, adolescents, and rural peopleThis valuable volume offers solid data on treating people who are all too often neglected by the medical community even before they contract HIV/AIDS. The programs and ideas presented in Evaluating HIV/AIDS Treatment Programs can be applied to other community-based health initiatives and clinics offering medical care to underserved and vulnerable populations. This essential resource deserves a permanent place on their bookshelf of any physician, administrator, or policymaker working in the fields of HIBV/AIDS, epidemiology, public health, or substance abuse. Visit the book's website at http://www.TheMeasurementGroup.com/drugs_and_society.htm