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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Shelley N. Facente, MPH¹, Dale R. Gluth, MA², Marise Rodriguez, MA¹, Teri Dowling, MA, MPH¹, and Nicolas M. Sheon, PhD³. (1) AIDS Office, HIV Prevention Section, San Francisco Department of Public Health, 25 Van Ness Ave., Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94102, 415-554-9136, Shelley.Facente@sfdph.org, (2) Magnet, 4122 18th Street, San Francisco, CA 94114, (3) Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California San Francisco, 50 Beale Street, Suite 1300, San Francisco, CA 94105

Issues: Funding for HIV counseling and testing through the California State Office of AIDS hinges on the counselor's completion of an individual client-level data form for each test. Counselors spend much of the session completing this form in lieu of providing client-centered risk-reduction counseling. Site coordinators and health department staff spend much of their time completing paperwork and manually entering data, rather than providing support and training to counselors. Description: A collaboration between UCSF researchers, the San Francisco Department of Public Health, and Magnet, a gay men's community health center, has led to the development of a client self-administered survey using handheld, touch-screen computers to collect the client-level data prior to the test session. Data are transmitted directly into local and state databases without the need for manual data entry. To evaluate the pilot, we are using qualitative process analysis to measure changes in the quality and quantity of counseling brought about by the new system. Lessons Learned: Electronic collection of client-level data is feasible, cost effective, and beneficial for counseling. The data's consistency, accuracy and completeness have improved and the need for manual data entry has been eliminated. Counseling sessions are less interrogative and more client-centered, thereby increasing client and counselor satisfaction with their HIV testing experience. It has led counselors and the site coordinator to develop new modalities of counselor training and supervision. Recommendations: Further pilot testing should be done to determine cost-effectiveness and feasibility in a variety of different clinical and outreach settings.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to

• Evaluate the ways that different modes of data collection impact the quality of an HIV test counseling session. 2.Articulate how electronic data collection improves the capacity of HIV test counselors and site coordinators to focus their work on the needs of the client.
• Develop a strategy for the implementation of electronic data collection at their HIV test sites, in the manner that most suites their situation.

Keywords: Data Collection, HIV Interventions

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered

Handout (.pdf format, 594.7 kb)