The US prison and jail populations have the highest concentrations of individuals with HIV in the nation and of those at high risk for acquiring the disease. In addition, this population has high rates of other communicable diseases such as hepatitis, tuberculosis, and sexually transmitted diseases. Thus, this setting offers an ideal opportunity to provide comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention and education programs. Yet, only 31 and 33% of state/federal and city/county facilities, respectively, provide multi-session prevention counseling (Hammett, Harmon, & Maruschek, 1997). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Health Resources and Services Administration have funded six state and one city health department to meet this need. These agencies-in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York-collaborate with state and local departments of corrections and community based organizations to implement programs promoting continuity of care and prevention services for HIV-positive and at-risk inmates and recent releases of correctional facilities. Grantees are utilizing a variety of models including group sessions, individual sessions, peer-educator models, and prevention case management. Process data for one year of the projects will be presented. These data will document the number of sessions offered, the percentage of participants completing the sessions, the number of sessions conducted by peer educators, the number of sessions conducted in Spanish, and the demographic breakdown of participants and peer-educators. Client-level data that document the outcomes of HIV prevention case management are forthcoming; nevertheless, there exists a need for public policy that advocates for the institutionalization of these programs.
Learning Objectives: 1. To provide an overview of the HIV prevention services that are currently available in US jails and prisons 2. To describe seven demonstration projects that are offering enhanced HIV prevention services in US jails and prisons 3. To describe the multi-site evaluation approach that is being used to evaluate the seven demonstration projects 4. To present process data that document the delivery of HIV prevention services in US jails and prisons under this initiative
Keywords: HIV Interventions, Correctional Health Care
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.