The North Carolina MCH Providers Partnership Project on Perinatal HIV exemplifies a unique approach to addressing issues around perinatal HIV. Studies have found that, although most prenatal care providers agree in principle with offering HIV testing to all pregnant women, only about 50-75% actually do so. Public providers are more likely to offering testing than private providers. With that in mind, a group of public and private sector NC MCH leaders joined forces to identify counseling and testing barriers and address them.
The diverse group, comprised of clinicians, health department representatives, researchers, HIV educators and others, met to discuss strategies for a partnership project. They discovered deficits in understanding about provider practices regarding perinatal HIV. For example, they were unclear how prenatal care providers - ob-gyns, family physicians, and nurse-midwives - compared in rates of HIV counseling and testing and in attitudes about what was appropriate for routine prenatal care. To gain better insight before proceeding, the group arranged a focus group of ob-gyns. Using the information from that session, they developed a written survey that was mailed to all ob-gyns, family physicians who practice obstetrics, and certified nurse-midwives in the state. The survey queried about HIV counseling and testing practices, barriers to offering HIV testing, the kinds of resources/educational opportunities the providers desired, and related topics. The survey results will be analyzed in March 2001 and will guide the partnership project's work to address barriers to HIV counseling and testing in pregnancy in North Carolina in subsequent months.
Learning Objectives: 1) Describe methods for assessing provider practices regarding HIV counseling and testing during pregnancy 2) Discuss options for using assessment data to inform strategies that encourage perinatal HIV counseling and testing 3) List strategies for building public/private partnerships around perinatal HIV
Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Public/Private Partnerships
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.