The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #45129

Clea C. Sarnquist, MPH¹, Barbara Sullivan, RN², David W. Hill, MPH², Renato A Littaua, DVM, MPVM³, Ola Adams-Best³, and Yvonne A. Maldonado, MD². (1) Pediatric Infectious Disease, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University, Cypress Hall E-15, 550 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305, 650-736-0636, cleas@stanford.edu, (2) Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University, Cypress Hall E-15, 550 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305, (3) Office of AIDS, CA Department of Health Services, 611 North 7th St., Sacramento, CA 95814

Workshop Objective: This session will provide an overview of the successes and challenges of implementing and evaluating a multi-site perinatal HIV prevention program in California. Topics discussed will include creating effective collaborations, identifying attainable implementation and evaluation goals, and generating and refining evaluation tools. Background: California state law mandates that voluntary HIV counseling and testing (VCT) be offered to all pregnant women in the hopes that testing and treatment (if necessary) will be accepted, thus decreasing vertical HIV transmission. However, a needs assessments done in 2000 in four CA counties indicate that less than 75% of pregnant or recently delivered women reported being offered an HIV test and only 47.4% reported receiving HIV-related counseling. Methods: Intervention plans were implemented in Alameda, Sacramento, Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Joaquin counties during 2001-2002. The plans each included some combination of provider training, social marketing, community outreach, and case management. Evaluation techniques and measures were chosen from the available literature and firsthand experience. Data sources included questionnaires, focus groups, and medical chart reviews. Results: The challenges and successes in implementing each type of intervention will be reviewed. This will include a discussion of how combinations of the aforementioned programs were chosen in order to target the sociodemographic and risk profiles of each county and create a variety of partnerships between health departments, healthcare providers, and the public. In addition, effective methods of data collection and data collection tools for each type of intervention will be shared and discussed.

Learning Objectives: At the end of this session, each participant should be able to

• describe several strategies to increase universal offering of VCT to and test acceptance among pregnant women,
• understand barriers to and techniques for effectively implementing such strategies,
• create realistic evaluation goals and tools for perinatal HIV prevention projects, and
• use knowledge gained to better understand and possibly improve perinatal HIV prevention projects in their communities.

Keywords: HIV Interventions, Maternal and Child Health

Related Web page: www.stanford.edu/group/pedshiv

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.