Presentation Abstract

A Needs Assessment of Health and Social Service Providers in the Fields of Youth and HIV. JK Colgrove, R Henderson, A Allgood, M Little, J Shalwitz. Health Initiatives for Youth, San Francisco, CA.

Issue: Adolescents and young adults ages 12-24 are at high risk of HIV infection and other morbidities, but age-appropriate HIV prevention and care services are lacking. Health and social service providers who work with youth face internal and external barriers to providing these services, including lack of expertise and training in adolescent psychology and development, and lack of institutional and community support for youth programs.

Project: A needs assessment of health and social service providers was conducted in five San Francisco Bay Area counties. Data were collected from mail surveys of 174 providers and in-person interviews with 79 providers. In addition, 64 youth were interviewed in focus groups and individually. Both qualitative and quantitative data analysis were conducted.

Results: Providers and youth see HIV as one of many interconnected threats to the health and well-being of young people, including substance use, lack of family and societal support, and low self-esteem. Providers identify lack of funding, time, and overall community support for youth programs as major barriers to providing care to youth.

Lessons Learned: Providers need to address HIV in the context of its many health and psychosocial concomitants; therefore, they need support from other sectors of the community at large to offer effective HIV prevention and care. Lack of age-appropriate HIV services reflects a dearth of services for youth in general.

Contact: James K. Colgrove, 1242 Market St., third floor, San Francisco CA 94102 USA. Telephone: 415.487.5777, Fax: 415.487.5771, e-mail: colgrove@slip.net.

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