SPNS/Fax: An Electronic Report from HRSA/HAB's SPNS Cooperative Agreements:
Volume 3, Issue 23 (November 27, 1998)

Information dissemination from 27 Innovative Models of HIV Care projects funded as Special Projects of National Significance by the HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

Introduction

Welcome to SPNS/Fax: An Electronic Report from HRSA/HAB's SPNS Cooperative Agreements. In each issue of SPNS/Fax, we will highlight findings from the HRSA Special Projects of National Significance Program Cooperative Agreements. The projects have been funded to develop innovative models of HIV/AIDS care. SPNS/Fax reports are distributed every two weeks by fax machine to all subscribers. All issues of SPNS/Fax are also available at this Web site. Due to slight differences in the media, issues distributed by fax machine may appear slightly different from those posted on this Web site, but the content is identical.

Cooperative Agreement Projects Demonstrate Long-Term Impact of Training on Client/Patient Care

Training healthcare providers in HIV/AIDS-related issues is important to meeting the ever-changing needs of persons affected by the epidemic. To understand the specific ways that training participants utilize information obtained from such efforts, follow-up interviews were conducted with more than 200 participants concerning trainings provided by nine HRSA SPNS Cooperative Agreement Projects. Concrete, long-term effects of the training experiences were identified, particularly in ways that participants now deliver client/patient care.

A total of 218 participants (24.3% men; 75.7% women) were interviewed from nine Cooperative Agreement Projects providing HIV training to service providers – Cook County, Center for Women Policy Studies, University of Colorado, Emory University, Health Initiatives for Youth, University of Mississippi, State University of New York, University of Texas, and University of Washington. Interviews were conducted more than a year after the initial trainings. Respondents had a mean age of 40.1 years (sd = 10.3 years). Their racial-ethnic distribution was 54.6% Caucasian, 20.2% African American, 12.8% Latino, 6.4% Asian American, 1.8% Native American, and 2.8% of another race or ethnicity. Participants were predominantly nurses/nurse practitioners (32.1%), program directors (15.1%), primary care and specialist physicians (10.6%), and case managers (10.6%).

Participants Indicating Training Had a Positive Effect on Client/Patient Care

The table on the right describes how participants rated the continuing effects of the training experiences. The percentage of individuals who thought the training experiences had a positive effect on them (small, medium, or large) is provided. The largest positive change due to the training was associated with how the trainees now provide services to clients/patients – 78.9% of the individuals interviewed reported that the training experiences had a positive effect on their service provision.

Specific Examples of How the Trainings Impacted Client/Patient Care. Participants provided a number of examples demonstrating the training effects on client/patient care, in areas such as:

• Encouraging Patient Adherence. "The patients have questions about HIV/AIDS and I am able to break down the information so they can understand it. Ultimately, the information leads to greater patient compliance."

• Best Practices. "[The training] highlighted and improved the mandatory steps/stages necessary to ensure that all aspects of patient care are covered in treatment. Now we know what to look for and how to best treat different HIV/AIDS-related issues."

• Increasing Provider Empathy. "It heightened my degree of empathy for the total effect that the disease has on the lives of those affected…and their families."

Coming soon in SPNS/Fax … "Cooperative Agreement Project Trainings Affect Changes in HIV Care System"

Also see the full "Summary of the Training Outcomes Interview Study" report.

SPNS/Fax is produced by The Measurement Group–PROTOTYPES Evaluation and Dissemination Center (EDC). Editorial comments should be made to The Measurement Group at 5811A Uplander Way, Culver City, California 90230, 310.216.1051, 310.670.7735 (fax).
 

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