The AIDS Foundation of Chicago ( AFC ) is taking yet another step in the battle to break down barriers to care collaboration between five local HIV/AIDS organizations, with the hopes of reaching and supporting up to 1,600 people living with the disease in the Chicago area.
AFC recently launched an initiative—known as Project IN-CARE ( Identify, Navigate, Connect, Access, Retain and Evaluate ) —designed to meet the unique needs of individuals living with HIV.
"Our project will aim to support HIV-positive men of color to gain access to, and remain actively engaged in, care services," said AFC Vice President David Munar. "Men of color are, by far, the most impacted populations locally and nationally, and also have among the highest rates of advanced HIV disease. By offering program participants enhanced psychosocial support, we will aim to improve health outcomes for program participants.
"We have ample data showing that many people newly diagnosed with HIV are not immediately connected to necessary medical and support services. In addition, too many people diagnosed with HIV experience interruptions in care and services, which poses a threat to their health. The CORE Center, one of our partners on the project, recently secured federal funding for a similar project targeting HIV-positive women, which is one of the reasons we decided to narrow the scope of this project to men."
Project IN-CARE is a collaborative effort that includes AFC, Brothers Health Collective, Howard Brown Health Center, Ruth M. Rothstein CORE Center and Test Positive Aware Network ( TPAN ) . The Positive Charge grant from the National AIDS Foundation ( NAF ) will provide the fund the initiative for a three-year period, and totals almost $1.8 million.
"The overarching goal of this three-year project is to achieve better health outcomes for hundreds of HIV-positive men who are either newly diagnosed with HIV or have experienced lapses in their medical and support services," Munar said. "The project also will pilot assessment techniques to identify individuals who are most likely to benefit from additional psychosocial support services. It will test the feasibility and outcomes of specialized peer navigators who will help clients understand how to gain maximum benefit from their medical and support services."
AFC is now in the planning and implementation phase of the project, which will start enrolling clients later this summer.
"We're enormously proud that the White House invited Louis Spraggins, TPAN Treatment Education Coordinator, to represent the new project at a recent White House briefing on public and private partnerships in the fight against HIV/AIDS," Munar said. "It speaks to the enthusiasm nationally about our proposed model in changing the way we engage and support HIV-positive clients in the future.
"In metro Chicago, we have a strong safety net of HIV-related medical and support services. Our project will rely on the existing HIV case management network, ambulatory care services, and HIV-related other support services as a foundation for assisting program participants. By developing and evaluating enhanced psychosocial support systems for individuals who are unlikely to access HIV services otherwise, our project is likely to have a profound impact. Thanks to medical advances, people living with HIV can achieve stable, healthy and long lives but only if they gain access to—and remain in—care. Our project will set out to do just that, and help people traumatized by their HIV diagnosis to overcome internalized and external HIV stigma, which is a persistent challenge in the fight against the epidemic.
Housing assistance: AFC is also one of 29 HIV/AIDS organizations around the country receiving $30.2 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development ( HUD ) . The funding, announced June 29, is offered through HUD's Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS Program ( HOPWA ) and will renew the department's support of these agencies. During each of the next three years, this HUD funding will help provide permanent supportive housing for 1,232 households in 19 states.
