Achievements & Lessons Learned-R: University of Colorado Health Science Center

Knowledge Item: CA-Initiative Impact-99R
Major Achievements and Lessons Learned: 1994-1999

University of Colorado Health Science Center

The University of Colorado Health Sciences Center project has increased the knowledge, ability, and willingness of rural healthcare providers to deliver services to at-risk and HIV-positive patients.

In 1999, the Evaluation and Dissemination Center asked each project to state its major achievements and the lessons it had learned from conducting the project. Those stated achievements and lessons learned are reproduced here (with minor editing) as reported to the Evaluation and Dissemination Center. The summary statements given here are those aspects of the program's experiences that the Project Director wished to emphasize.

Achievement 1: Developed standardized curriculum in three formats (self-study, telecommunications, face-to-face).

Key Elements for
Success:

Region-wide input; strong pilot test; content expertise.

Factors that Limited
Success:

Length of printing process.

Factors that Ensured
Success:

Strong regional infrastructure; content expertise; regional stability of project personnel.

Achievement 2: Trained over 5,000 providers with basic HIV prevention, early intervention and health promotion information.
Key Elements for Success: Local implementation; excellent trainers; case history format.	Factors that Limited Success: System and weather constraints for telecommunications.	Factors that Ensured Success: Strong regional network.

Achievement 3: Demonstration of training impact through multi-site evaluation.
Key Elements for Success: Strong regional infrastructure; TMG support.	Factors that Limited Success: Low follow-up response from control group.	Factors that Ensured Success: Excellent evaluation expertise.

*Achievement 4:* Widespread dissemination of project outcomes.
Key Elements for Success: Curriculum met current needs; investment of project personnel to disseminate results.	Factors that Limited Success: None listed.	Factors that Ensured Success: Willingness of project personnel to present results locally and regionally.

*Achievement 5:* Application of curriculum to Internet to explore usefulness for rural health care providers.
Key Elements for Success: (Not very successful).	Factors that Limited Success: Low internet usage by rural health providers.	Factors that Ensured Success: Conducted random sample survey to help determine reasons for non-use.

1. Lesson Learned: Using an already established infrastructure allows a program to get an early start and to do "value added" activities that enhance the project.

How related to achievements: Provided long-term stability and way in to implement the project locally and to disseminate the project results locally and nationally.

2. Lesson Learned: Self-instruction is a very cost-effective model for training rural health care providers; important to offer continuing education credit.

How related to achievements: Most of the 5,000+ trainees were trained through the self-instruction method.

3. Lesson Learned: Difficult to select an adequate control group from rural areas, even with incentives - must draw a much larger sample than indicated.

How related to achievements: The evaluation results would be stronger with a larger control group.

4. Lesson Learned: It is important to assure "buy-in" by multi-site project personnel for information dissemination and to provide support for papers and presentations.

How related to achievements: Allowed for widespread dissemination of project and project results.

5. Lesson Learned: Many rural health care providers are not currently accessing educational programs via the Internet.

How related to achievements: Accounts for disappointing response to SPNS Internet educational offering.

Completed By: Donna Anderson, Ph.D.; Sara Martin, M.P.H.
Last Updated: July 1999

Project Resource Page

University of Colorado Health Science Center

Evaluation Data

Last Updated: August 02, 2001; data through June 15, 1999; analyses conducted January 2000.

Knowledge Base Citation: The Knowledge Base and this Knowledge Item were designed and authored by G. J. Huba, Ph.D.; in collaboration with Lisa A. Melchior, Ph.D.; A. T. Panter, Ph.D.; and the staff of The Measurement Group. Cite this work as "Huba, G. J., Melchior, L. A., and Panter, A. T. (1998 - 2001). The Measurement Group Knowledge Base on HIV/AIDS Care. On the World Wide Web: http://www.TheMeasurementGroup.com."

Questions or Comments: Contact The Measurement Group.

Use of Knowledge Base Information: Acceptable Uses and Limitations.

Collaborators from Participating Projects: Cooperative Agreement Steering Committee 1999.

Participating Projects: This Knowledge Base is based on the service delivery experiences of 27 Cooperative Agreement Projects on Innovative Models of HIV/AIDS Care. These projects and the Evaluation and Dissemination Center which produced this Knowledge Base were funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) as Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) between 1994 and 1999.

Why This Evaluation was Conducted: Editorial.

More Information: Design of this Knowledge Base.

Recommended Citation Format for Web Materials: American Psychological Association Publication Manual Section, Revised 2001.

Work on the Knowledge Base and the cross-cutting evaluation was supported in part by Grant Number 5 U90 HA 00030-05 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HIV/AIDS Bureau's (HAB) Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS). The contents of this Knowledge Base are solely the responsibility of The Measurement Group and do not necessarily represent the official views of HRSA or HRSA/HAB's Special Projects of National Significance nor may they represent the positions of the individual grantees whose projects are included in the cross-cutting evaluation.