Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #112091

Thomas E. Guadamuz, MHS¹, M. Gerardo Ramos, BA², Grace Ricco-Peņa, RN, MS², Lawrence Li, BS², and Fannie Fonseca-Becker, DrPH³. (1) Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, 339-237-0383, tguadamu@jhsph.edu, (2) Tenderloin AIDS Resource Center, 183-187 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94102, (3) Director, J&J Community HealthCare Scholars Program, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, MD 21202

Background: The Tenderloin AIDS Resource Center (TARC) is a community-based organization that provides HIV/AIDS services to residents of the Tenderloin district of San Francisco; many are in poverty, are drug users, sex workers, and/or homeless. The goal of the two-year Directly Observed Therapy (DOT) HIV Medication Management Program is to promote access to HIV antiretroviral therapy medications among homeless and low-income individuals with HIV, particularly those who have substance abuse and mental health issues. Although TARC has a solid electronic infrastructure for the collection of monitoring data, the staff needed to increase their program evaluation skills to assess the effect of the DOT project activities.

Methods: Through a community-academic partnership, key project staff were trained to design and implement the DOT project evaluation plan, including the development of a conceptual framework.

Results: TARC staff (both administrative and health care providers) learned how to create and use a conceptual framework to facilitate program evaluation. The staff also learned how to design and implement a program evaluation. Additionally, the staff improved their skills in results presentation.

Conclusion: In-house capacity was improved through a community-academic partnership whereby staff members at all levels in the community-based organization were able to have a say in their own evaluation and at the same time be comfortable with the process. This capacity-building approach can be applied to similar community health care programs serving vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations in other urban centers around the country.

Learning Objectives: