3190.0: Monday, November 13, 2000 - Table 2

Abstract #12785

Evaluating the impact of an HIV prevention counseling training for health care and social service providers

Jessica L. Merron, MPH1, Polly Hill O'Keefe, MSS1, Linda Samost2, and Thomas M. DeMelfi, BS3. (1) Pennsylvania/Mid-Atlantic AIDS Education and Training Center, Health Federation of Philadelphia, 1211 Chestnut Street, Suite 700, Philadelphia, PA 19107, 215-246-5440, merron@hfedu.org, (2) Independent Consultant, 652 Mulford Road, Wyncote, PA 19095, (3) Division of HIV/AIDS, Pennsylvania Department of Health, P.O. Box 90, Health and Welfare Building, Room 912, Harrisburg, PA 17108

The Pennsylvania/Mid-Atlantic AIDS Education and Training Center, with the Pennsylvania Department of Health, conducted a 1 ½ day HIV prevention counseling training throughout Pennsylvania for health care and social service providers. The goal of this training was to improve the HIV prevention counseling skills of these providers and the quality of HIV prevention counseling services available to clients. A total of 132 individuals attended eight trainings between January-March, 1999 and approximately 140 attended eight trainings between January-March, 2000. Surveys were completed prior to the training, immediately after and again three months later. For the 1999 cohort, sixty-three participants completed all three waves of the survey, a 48% response rate. Standardized scores were created on four dimensions: defining effective HIV prevention counseling; patient-centered counseling; goals of HIV prevention counseling; and giving a positive test result. These scores were examined using a repeated measure linear model. Significant improvement was found in two of the four measures over the three-month time period. These data measure the impact of these trainings on a longer term basis and assist the trainers in tailoring future programs to better meet the needs of providers. This session will describe the HIV prevention counseling trainings and the methods used to evaluate their impact.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to: 1. Discuss the impact of the HIV prevention counseling trainings for health care and social service providers. 2. Identify the process used to evaluate the impact of these trainings. During this session, faculty will describe the HIV prevention counseling trainings offered to health care and social service providers. Additionally, faculty will describe the methods used to evaluate the impact of these trainings

Keywords: Evaluation, Prevention

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

The 128th Annual Meeting of APHA