Conference Abstract

A Methodology for Sharing Expertise among 27 Innovative Models of HIV Care. G. Huba, T. Larson, B. Singer, D. Anderson, J. Bartlett, V. Brown, P. Chase, D. Cherin, H. Cruz, J. Dempsey, M. Driscoll, T. Gallagher, V. German, H. Henderson, R. Henderson, E. Jean-Louis, J. Kaplan, S. McDonald, L. Melchior, K. Meredith, P. Reis, R. Rodriguez, C. Rohweder, G. Smereck, K. Soons, A. Stanton, J. Steinberg, K. Uldall, L. Wolfe, J. Zalumas. Cooperative Agreement Projects.

Poster Presentation

Category: Policy & Administration

Presentation Date & Time: 03/24/98 12:00:00

HIV service models are often developed in isolation, and it consequently may be a long process of communicating "lessons learned" to interested parties. Furthermore, individual programs may use evaluation methods that do not permit easy cross-project comparisons or pooled findings. In 1994, the Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) Program of the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) funded an HIV Innovative Model of Care Initiative consisting of 27 cooperative agreements projects, HRSA, and an Evaluation and Dissemination Center. The cooperative agreement funding mechanism was selected to encourage collaborative decision making, common evaluation, and blending of expertise. Projects clustered into five Work Groups: a) capitated care; b) community based organizations; c) comprehensive healthcare models; d) infrastructure-advocacy; and e) training. Over the last three years, the SPNS Cooperative Agreement Steering Committee has worked to develop and implement methods to share expertise, techniques, and resources; develop common evaluation methods and protocols; and disseminate project results, including via electronic forums such as the World Wide Web. A key goal of the collaborative group has been to promote rapid dissemination of lessons learned about innovative HIV service delivery programs to an audience of practitioners, administrators, researchers, consumers, and others. A dynamic management structure evolved using consensus decision making, feedback, and refinement. Through sharing of expertise and experiences, the goals of the collective and the individual projects have been enhanced. It is believed that the model can be conveyed to other HIV service projects that wish to collaborate in similar ways.