ACRIA’s capacity building program is a unique opportunity for community-based organizations (CBOs) that provide services to people with HIV throughout New York City to integrate HIV health educcation and counseling into the services they offer. This two-part program includes a four-day HIV health literacy & skills-building training followed by the provision of ongoing technical assistance and support to the agency.

The Goal: To help non-medical service providers develop the skills, tools, resources, and information to incorporate accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date HIV health literacy and counseling into the work of their agencies.

The Program:

• Part I: Four-Day HIV Health Education & Skills-Building Training
• Part II: Ongoing Technical Assistance & Support

Part I: Four-Day Training, September 25th - 28th, 2006
This intensive training will be conducted over four consecutive days with participation limited to 25 people. The content of the training will be tailored to the needs of the participants and their agencies. The training curriculum consists of modules, with each module building upon information and concepts already presented.

Module topics may include:

The training also incorporates issues that are important for non-medical service providers to consider when discussing HIV healthcare issues with their clients:

• Understanding Your Client Populations
• Presentation Skills:
       Engaging the Client
       Cultural & Linguistic Competence
• The Importance of Evaluation
• Evaluating the Integrity of HIV Health Information Resources
• Confidentiality & Boundary Issues
• The Role of the Non-Medical Provider in Health Literacy & Counseling

The training includes interactive exercises designed to help participants brainstorm ways that treatment education can be further integrated into their agencies’ existing program services.

Training Methods / Skills Development
The training emphasizes hands-on learning, including interactive activities such as group exercises, case studies, and role plays, so that participants have the opportunity to develop and apply practical skills. The interactive exercises also allow participants to discover ways to provide health-related information that are culturally and linguistically appropriate for people living with HIV, many of whom may have significant barriers to care, deep distrust of the medical establishment, and little medical or scientific background.

Evaluations
The four-day training includes a pre- and post-test as well as interim and final evaluations to measure how well the information is absorbed by the participants and how relevant the issues are to the work of their organizations. Depending on the results of these tests and evaluations, we will adjust the training and follow-up accordingly.

Participant Manual and Resources
Each program participant receives an extensive training manual that includes the curriculum, HIV health information resources, appendices, a glossary of terms, fact sheets, and visual aids that illustrate basic concepts of immune system function, HIV pathogenesis, and how antiretroviral medications work. ACRIA will provide participants with updated sections of the manual as standards of care change and advances in HIV treatment occur.

Ongoing Follow-Up Technical Assistance & Support
ACRIA will offer free follow-up support to the program participants and their agencies for six months (or longer, if necessary) following the initial training. This follow-up support includes on-site, one-on-one sessions at each agency. After each participating agency evaluates its current services and brainstorms how HIV health literacy might be incorporated into existing programs, ACRIA will provide support through on-site visits, phone calls, and e-mail correspondence. The nature of the follow-up will be individualized to meet the specific needs of each agency and program participant, but will include a minimum of two on-site agency visits. Each participating agency is asked to confirm their commitment to the follow-up portion of the program by signing a post-acceptance Letter of Agreement with ACRIA.

Participant Applications & Needs Assessments
Before the four-day training, potential participants complete an application form and needs assessment, accompanied by a letter of commitment from their agency. The assessments help us design the training to best meet the specific needs of the program participants’ organizations. The application process also helps to ensure that: