SPNS/Fax: An Electronic Report from HRSA/HAB's SPNS Cooperative Agreements:
Volume 1, Issue 2 (May 4, 1996)

This document has been superceded by our Online Knowledge Base on Innovative Models of HIV/AIDS Care. Click here to access the Knowledge Base. Click here to access descriptions of 27 Innovative Models of HIV/AIDS Care and the lessons learned from these projects. SPNS/Fax was written, published, and distributed by fax by The Measurement Group between 1995 and 1998.

Information dissemination from 27 Innovative Models of HIV Care projects funded as Special Projects of National Significance by the HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

Introduction

Welcome to SPNS/Fax: An Electronic Report from HRSA/HAB's SPNS Cooperative Agreements. In each issue of SPNS/Fax, we will highlight findings from the HRSA Special Projects of National Significance Program Cooperative Agreements. The projects have been funded to develop innovative models of HIV/AIDS care. SPNS/Fax reports are distributed every two weeks by fax machine to all subscribers. All issues of SPNS/Fax are also available at this Web site. Due to slight differences in the media, issues distributed by fax machine may appear slightly different from those posted on this Web site, but the content is identical.

PROTOTYPES WomensLink Project Cuts Perceived Barriers to Services

The PROTOTYPES WomensLink program, located in Culver City, California, provides services for women with HIV and their children in Los Angeles County.

Key features of the PROTOTYPES WomensLink program are as follows:

  • A "Settlement House" model is used where women can "drop-in" to a centrally located storefront facility and receive a comprehensive array of services for themselves and their children.

  • Services offered at PROTOTYPES WomensLink include a full needs assessment, housing assistance, individual and group counseling, emergency needs, patient advocacy, psychiatric services, linkage to local medical services for women with HIV, linkage to a comprehensive array of outpatient and residential substance abuse services, and on-site medical assistance through a physician assistant. Transportation is provided.

  • During the first year of support from the HRSA/SPNS program, PROTOTYPES WomensLink served 128 women with HIV and their children.

As parts of its evaluation, PROTOTYPES WomensLink measures the women's perceptions of the presence or absence of barriers to receiving treatment within the whole service continuum they must deal with in order to have their HIV treated. The chart shows how the women's perception of barriers to services changed over a six-month period at PROTOTYPES WomensLink.

Structural barriers include not knowing that services exist, not knowing where to get them, having to wait too long, and feeling that services cost too much. Over a six month period, there was a decrease from 3.05 of these stated barriers to 1.6 barriers (of 7). The difference was statistically significant.

Social barriers include the fear of losing a child to the family protection system, fear of disclosing HIV status, language incompatibility, worries that family or friends would be against the services, and difficulty in making and keeping appointments. Over a six month period, there was a decrease from an average of 6.1 stated barriers to 5.3 barriers (of 9). The difference was not significant.

There was a statistically significant decrease in total barriers with the mean endorsed dropping from 9.1 to 6.8 (of 17). The total includes both the social and structural barriers.

Consistent with its goals of cutting barriers to services, PROTOTYPES WomensLink has shown a reduction in perceived barriers to service among its clients. Program staff hypothesize that it may take more time to change perceptions of social barriers than it does to change perceptions of structural barriers. To learn more about the PROTOTYPES WomensLink program, contact Dr. Vivian B. Brown at PROTOTYPES, 5601 West Slauson Boulevard, Culver City, California 90230; by email at protoceo@aol.com; or by phone at (310) 641-7795 .

SPNS/Fax is produced by The Measurement Group–PROTOTYPES Evaluation and Dissemination Center (EDC). Editorial comments should be made to The Measurement Group at 5811A Uplander Way, Culver City, California 90230, 310.216.1051, 310.670.7735 (fax).
 

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