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Region II Family Planning Conference Held in Puerto Rico

As the Title X Region II Family Planning Training Center, CAI sponsored the Region II Family Planning Conference, which took place from May 19-21 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. This was the first-ever regional conference for family planning administrators, directors and managers, and 183 senior staff members from family planning grantee and delegate agencies throughout New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands came together at the conference. The event provided a unique opportunity for participants to network with representatives from agencies located throughout Region II, and by holding it in Puerto Rico, allowed for a strong representation of 105 local family planners and staff.

Over the course of the three days, participants were able to enhance their knowledge through a combination of panel presentations, plenary sessions and workshops aimed at increasing their capabilities in managing family planning services. Topics covered during the conference included: clinic efficiency, fiscal management, cultural considerations for targeting the region’s most vulnerable women, adolescent health, male reproductive health services, guidance for HIV testing, and marketing strategies for family planning. All programs were simultaneously translated which allowed both English and Spanish speakers to maximize their learning experience.

Along these lines, one conference participant said, “The most interesting thing learned, for me, was the cultural competence I gained by participating in a conference where English was not always the primary language. It was very helpful to understand what it is like to be in an environment where you cannot understand and communicate easily and is something we take for granted. It really hit home for me what so many of our clients feel when visiting our clinics and I am glad to have had this experience.”

Created in 1970, the Title X program is the only federal program solely dedicated to family planning and reproductive health with a mandate to provide a broad range of acceptable and effective family planning methods and services. The program is designed to provide access to contraceptive supplies and information on a voluntary and confidential basis to all who want and need them, with priority given to low-income persons. In addition to contraceptive services and related counseling, Title X supported clinics also provide a number of preventive health services.

 CAI’s Clinical Training Program Medical Director Conducts AETC Preceptorship

CAI is a Learning Performance Site for the New York/New Jersey AIDS Education and Training Centers (AETC), and through this role offers specialized HIV/AIDS training and education to providers that care primarily for minority, underserved and vulnerable populations. The AETC program – one of the largest and most comprehensive professional education programs dedicated to HIV/AIDS – has 11 regional centers throughout the US that conduct training for HIV care providers in a range of five training levels that utilize such components as lectures, workshops, clinical consultations and technical assistance.

As part of the AETC Level 3: Clinical Training, which places the trainee within actual clinical care experiences with patients, CAI’s Clinical Training Program Medical Director, Dr. Robert Cohen, conducted a unique preceptorship at his private practice in New York City. Dr. Cohen’s student was George Thompson, who has worked as a physician’s assistant at Riker’s Island prison for more than 20 years.

For the preceptorship, which took place throughout the month of March, Mr. Thompson spent three, three-hour sessions at Dr. Cohen’s office. During this time they met with, reviewed and examined patients living with HIV. Reflecting on the training, Dr. Cohen said that when compared to working with groups, a preceptorship “provides more interaction and a much more effective learning experience.” Dr. Cohen also said this form of learning was a huge benefit for the student, “because complex HIV medical management requires knowledge of years of the patient’s medical history. This preceptorship, with the patient present and their medical record available, duplicates the actual clinical experience. The preceptorship model allowed George, the patient and myself to discuss and solve real clinical problems in real time. I learned a lot from the experience as well.”

Dr. Cohen currently sees several hundred HIV+ patients at his private practice; in a related coincidence, from 1982-86 he was the Director of the Montefiore Rikers Island Health Services, where he worked with Mr. Thompson. In the summer of 1981, when he first visited Riker’s Island, Dr. Cohen saw his first case of HIV and to this day he continues his work to help prisoners get the same medical care as the public: Dr. Cohen also works as a health care monitor for prisons in New York, Connecticut and Michigan.

This particular preceptorship fell under the NY/NJ AETC Community Clinical Education & Sustaining Support Certificate Program (ACCESS). ACCESS is a multiple-day individualized training for minority and minority serving providers working in communities that are highly impacted by HIV. The AETC Program provides professional training under the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency (CARE) Act, which is administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) HIV/AIDS Bureau.

What’s New – National

Strengthening Leadership in South African NGOs

In March, MAC AIDS Fund Leadership Initiative at Columbia University and UCLA contracted CAI to provide a three-day training session on leadership skills for 12 participants from South African NGOs. The 12 fellows (selected from 140 South African applicants) were in New York City to receive training in cutting edge approaches to HIV prevention.

One of the greatest difficulties that developing countries face when attempting to build sustainable programs that combat HIV/AIDS is a lack of skilled human resources; the Leadership Initiative seeks to change this by increasing leadership on the local level and helping new and innovative HIV prevention programs to develop. MAC AIDS believes local leaders will help translate westernized HIV education into their local culture.

As part of their work with the Leadership Initiative in NYC, participants designed their own prevention programs that will target causes of HIV infection in their region while focusing on gender equality. The three-day training that CAI facilitated provided the participants with an overview of skills and information that will help them to implement their plans to reduce the spread and impact of HIV/AIDS in their communities. At CAI, the fellows were trained on topics such as identifying resources for funding; strengthening proposals; fundraising action plans; budgets; evidence-based interventions; project implementation; memorandums of understanding; and a variety of leadership skills and styles.

Established in 1994 by MAC Cosmetics, the MAC AIDS Fund supports men, women and children affected by HIV/AIDS globally. MAC donates every cent of the selling price of their Viva Glam lipsticks to the MAC AIDS Fund; to date it has amounted to more than US$100 million.

CAI Helps Enhance the Delivery of HIV/STD Related Care in Puerto Rico

In April and May CAI staff members were in Puerto Rico to work with the Puerto Rico Department of Health (PRDOH) on a project that seeks to enhance the delivery of HIV/STD related care at PRDOH supported clinics. The project, which is receiving technical assistance funding from the Health and Human Services Regional Administrator, is utilizing the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Patient Flow Analysis (PFA) and a learning process built upon the Institute for Health Care Improvement’s Model for Change to address identified challenges in the delivery of vital health care services for those affected by HIV and STDs.

Drawing on these tools, CAI provided a Train the Trainer (TOT) to a multidisciplinary team of senior level PRDOH and local AETC staff who form the “PRDOH Leadership Team.” This team will be charged with assessing and evaluating program operations and then developing a plan of action to make specific improvements in patient access to care, adherence to treatment plans, patient follow-up and increased patient and staff satisfaction with quality of care provided.

The PFA is a computer application designed to support the development and implementation of activities that will increase clinic productivity, enhance utilization of staff, streamline service delivery, reduce the amount of time that clients spend in the clinic, increase client retention and compliance, and increase client and staff satisfaction. CAI was one of the first users of the PFA system and has conducted over 500 analyses in a variety of settings over the past 20 years.

NYS Department of Health Tobacco Control Program Hosts Statewide Meeting

The New York State Department of Health Tobacco Control Program (NYSTCP) statewide meeting, “Shaping a Tobacco Free Future: Strategies for 2010 & Beyond,” took place in Albany from May 6-8 with nearly 400 people in attendance. The NYSTCP contracts CAI to coordinate and manage various meetings throughout the year. More than 12 months of planning went into the statewide meeting with CAI handling the logistical arrangements such as online registration, facility, evaluation and the collection of data; the NYSTCP was responsible for selecting the conference content.

Each day of the meeting had a theme around which the featured presenters and workshops focused their work. Day one’s theme was, “Putting the Evidence-Based Strategies to Work to Achieve the 2010 Goal.” On day two, the sessions focused on the idea of, “Beyond the Evidence Base: Changing Communities to Support a Tobacco-Free Norm.” The final day of workshops revolved around, “Setting the Tobacco Control Agenda for a Post-2010 New York.”

First Round of Healthy Teens Initiative Training Held in the Bronx

On April 28 and 29, CAI provided two training programs to health care providers who are part of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYCDOHMH) Healthy Teens Initiative (HTI). As we reported in our last newsletter, the initiative was launched in 2006 as part of an effort to reduce teen pregnancy in boroughs with some of the highest teen pregnancy rates in New York City. CAI’s role is to provide free training and ongoing support to all HTI partners.

The first program offered was the core HTI training, “Implementing Sexual Health Services for Tweens, Teens and Their Families and Caregivers.” This training is required for all HTI staff, as it ensures that HTI partners have the skills and knowledge necessary to properly deliver confidential, teen friendly and accessible sexual health services to youths. The training also covers how to keep services confidential, affordable and consistent with New York Minors’ Rights Laws.

The second, optional program titled, “Strategies for Leading Improvement in Complex Health Care Systems,” provided senior level staff help in designing plans for improving their delivery of sexual health related services to youths and their parents and caregivers. After HTI partners complete both the required and optional trainings they become eligible to receive a range of individualized instruction, technical assistance and ongoing support offered by CAI that will help them to make dramatic improvements to their health care systems to increase both access to and quality of sexual and reproductive health care provided to tweens, teens and their parents or caregivers.

National Training Center for Family Planning Launches New Website

The National Training Center for Family Planning (NTC) recently launched their website. The site – www.fpntc.org  – has a host of features that Title X Training Centers and Title X Programs can access, but likely to be of particular interest to many is the Tools and Resources section, which contains links and downloads for a variety of training resources. Besides listing the tools and resources available, this section provides brief descriptions, any related costs, and available contact information associated with accessing the items. The website also features a submissions page where people can submit training resources that they have found to be particularly useful. CAI, the Region II Family Planning Training Center, coordinates the NTC.

OPA/OFP HIV Prevention Project Annual Technical Support Conference

From March 31-April 2, CAI coordinated the Office of Population Affairs, Office of Family Planning (OPA/OFP) ninth annual technical support conference for HIV Prevention Grantees. There are currently 77 grantees (30 of which are newly funded), and from these 208 participants attended the conference held in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The three-day conference was broken into two segments; the first day was targeted to newly funded HIV Prevention grantees while the final two days were for all grantees. The conference promoted the advancement of HIV prevention and service integration in Family Planning programs by providing an orientation to the new HIV Prevention projects; updates on recent initiatives and advancements in HIV prevention; and guidance on the 2006 CDC recommendations for HIV testing in healthcare settings.

NYSDOH Awards CAI Statewide Mental Health Contract

As part of a new initiative to provide direct mental health services for persons living with HIV, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) recently awarded $4.4 million in grants to 20 health and research organizations throughout the state. CAI was among the grantees and will be providing training and technical assistance to mental health providers who work with the treatment and management of individuals with mental illness and HIV infection.

CAI will offer two trainings throughout New York: Professional Development for Licensed Clinical Professionals and Community Psychoeducation for Consumers and Providers. Through these trainings CAI plans to reduce the stigma around mental illness while increasing the PWHA and community provider knowledge and understanding of the following: the signs and symptoms of common mental health problems; the importance of mental health to overall health and wellness; the PWHA ability to care for their mental health and the mental health of others.

CAI Provides Training for New York State County Health Departments

In March CAI completed the second and final Learning Session for New York State County Health Departments (CHD) seeking to improve the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of their family planning programs. The trainings utilized an improvement approach based on the Institute for Health Care Improvement Series Collaborative Model as a framework. This model is designed to help organizations close the gap between knowledge and action by initiating a series of Learning Sessions that bring agency multidisciplinary teams together to seek improvement and build skills. With funding from the Office of Population Affairs 2007 National Training Priority, the Learning Sessions sought to help CHD Teams to identify and refine improvement goals within day-to-day management and planning that will improve the delivery of family planning services to their clients.

After the completion of the Learning Sessions, CAI provided technical assistance (TA) and follow-up services to each program in their specific improvement areas. Activities included on-site visits, conference calls and virtual classrooms. A key learning component used in the follow-up was a series of “Mystery Shopper” phone calls that were conducted with each CHD to assess how accurately staff members provided appointment and insurance information to a CAI consultant posing as a client seeking family planning services without insurance. CAI will continue to evaluate the effectiveness of the training and TA by monitoring each CHD Team’s progress.

CAI Organizes Worksite Wellness Certification Course

In March, CAI handled the logistical arrangements for a Worksite Wellness Level 1 Certification Course that was hosted by the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH). The 16-hour Level 1 course of the National Wellness Institute and WebMD’s worksite wellness certification program took place from March 19-20 in Albany, NY.

The course focused on 14 key skills necessary for wellness program design and implementation and is the first of four levels of Worksite Wellness Certification training developed by the National Wellness Institute. The instructor for the program was Larry S. Chapman, MPH, Senior Vice President of WebMD Health Services, who is one of the most experienced worksite wellness professionals in the field. The NYSDOH hopes to offer the Level 2 training within the next year and is working with CAI to plan and implement the next series of trainings.

What’s New – International

Guyana – CAI/GHARP Ecotourism Training Project Reports Success

In our last newsletter we reported that the Guyana HIV/AIDS Reduction and Prevention (GHARP) project, CAI and the Iwokrama International Centre for Rain Forest Conservation and Development collaborated to provide a three-month ecotourism guide training program to five young persons infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS. We’re now pleased to report that all five young adults completed the training that consisted of one month of theoretical and field work training at Iwokrama, located in the central rainforests of Guyana, and two separate one-month internships at local eco-lodges. As a result of the training, two of the participants were offered jobs at one of Guyana’s leading ecotourism resorts.

Based on this success, in the near future CAI/GHARP plans on sending an additional four young persons infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS to a second round of ecotourism training. Along this same vein, CAI/GHARP is reshaping their micro-enterprise projects into a job-readiness program to provide greater linkages to employment for program participants. For this, CAI’s Work Readiness expert will work with local consultants to train participants that are currently, or have gone through, micro-enterprise training programs in job readiness and will assist them in getting job placements.

El Salvador

The Salvadorian National Bureau of Family Issues and the First Lady initiative to address trauma in children and adolescents, Program Tenderness (Secretaria Nacional de la Familia – Programa Ternura) has re-contracted CAI to conduct a two-day program titled: Psycho-Educational Approach to Address Trauma in Early Childhood: Working with Teachers, Parents and Tutors. The program is scheduled for November 2008 (CAI conducted the same training in November 2007) and will target nurses, psychologists, teachers and mental health providers working in public institutions. It will be the last activity of a two-month program on trauma and childhood coordinated by the National Bureau of Family Issues with funding from WHO/PAHO.

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