Addressing the intersection of mental health, substance abuse, and HIV/AIDS in minority communities

Issues: HIV/AIDS and associated behavioral health problems persist as major public health concerns in the United States, specifically in racial/ethnic minority communities. As the syndemic of HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, and mental health disorders continues to exact a disproportionate toll on minority communities, the need for integrated services amplifies. Description: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMSHA) Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI) provides communities with funding, training, and technical assistance (T/TA) to address substance abuse, mental illness, and HIV/AIDS among minority populations. MAI is part of SAMHSA's strategic initiative to prevent substance abuse and mental illness and focuses on increasing communities' capacity to implement integrated, evidence-based, culturally-appropriate behavioral health and HIV/AIDS programs. MAI is implemented through three main programs: the Targeted Capacity Expansion (TCE) HIV program, the Substance Abuse and HIV Prevention program, and the MAI-TCE program. The session will review data from administrative records of 275 MAI-funded programs. Systematic analysis of these data provides an overview of the projects, activities, reach of the activities, and T/TA provided. Lessons Learned: MAI programs are implementing 80 evidence-based interventions in 34 States/Territories and District of Columbia. Nearly 800,000 people of diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds have been targeted for outreach and/or direct interventions, with 215,000 targeted for HIV testing. T/TA has focused on intervention implementation, sustainability, recruitment/retention, and fiscal management. Recommendations: Continued support is needed for organizations to implement integrated, culturally appropriate behavioral health and HIV/AIDS programs targeting racial/ethnic minority communities. These programs have significant implications for eliminating disparities in substance abuse and HIV.