SPNS/Fax: An Electronic Report from HRSA/HAB's SPNS Cooperative Agreements:
Volume 3, Issue 22 (November 13, 1998)

This document has been superceded by our Online Knowledge Base on Innovative Models of HIV/AIDS Care.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.

Training Participants Report Increases in Skills and Knowledge on HIV-Related Issues1

HRSA/HAB's SPNS Cooperative Agreements focus on training as a means of improving the levels of care for persons living with HIV by teaching physicians about a specific clinical issue (such as delirium and dementia), by raising awareness among community providers as to the needs of underserved populations (such as youth), or by reaching healthcare providers in rural areas who may have limited access to current information (for example, using distance learning techniques).

One method the projects used to evaluate the impacts of training on HIV service delivery was assessing the self-reported level of skills, knowledge, and comfort in addressing issues related to HIV. Immediately upon completion of each of the training sessions, participants were asked to rate their pre- and post-training skills and abilities in four areas: 1) perceived ability to counsel clients about various treatment options; 2) perceived ability to clinically manage clients; 3) comfort in providing services related to the training topic; and 4) perceived knowledge of the training topic.

The chart on the below gives the mean ratings of self-reported knowledge, comfort, and abilities of participants before and immediately after the training sessions. These ratings were based on a scale from one ("low") to five ("high"). These results – which show statistically significant changes in all four domains – suggest that the trainings provided by these projects had a marked positive impact on more than 1400 participants in community-based, academic, and institutional settings. As illustrated in the examples below, the resulting increases in provider knowledge lead to improved delivery of HIV/AIDS care.

vol3iss22.gif (11501 bytes)

  • In-service training provided by the Maternal and Pediatric Services Project at the State University of New York at Brooklyn educated hospital- and community-based providers to encourage pregnant patients to get HIV testing. In turn, the participating institutions had increased rates of requests by pregnant women for voluntarily testing for HIV.
  • The Missouri Department of Health project’s training of mental health providers, substance abuse professionals, and case managers heightened participants’ understanding of real life experiences of their HIV-positive clients and resulted in changes to policies that reflect a multicultural point of view and eliminate stigmatization of those with HIV.

In sum, training of service providers on HIV-related topics is a valuable and effective method to improve the overall provision of care to individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Increasing practitioners’ levels of comfort in working with persons living with HIV/AIDS serves to reduce an important barrier to care.

Coming soon in SPNS/Fax… "Long-Term Impact of Participation in Training on Client/Patient Care Practices."

1The findings presented in this issue were adapted from Knowledge Items CA-Training Outcomes-01 through CA-Training Outcomes-07 from HRSA/HAB's SPNS Cooperative Agreements on Innovative Models of Care, The Measurement Group Knowledge Base on HIV/AIDS Care, 1998. They represent preliminary results, which may be refined with additional data and analyses.

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).
 

Back to SPNS/Fax Directory

 

 

Copyright © 1996-2005 by The Measurement Group LLC. All rights reserved. This may not be current and will not be updated.