Community Planning Group Technical Assistance

HIV/STD Prevention Community Planning is a process that involves everyone infected/affected by the epidemic and connects their many points of view into a cohesive plan to prevent HIV. Society, culture, economics and politics influence prevention efforts in each community, and are taken into consideration in designing the prevention plan.

Following guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for HIV Prevention Community Planning Groups (CPG), the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) has implemented HIV/STD Prevention Community Planning efforts to build cooperation between different groups, including government agencies, non-governmental groups and the people most affected by HIV and other STDs in each community. Together, the planning groups and the TDSHS look at the size of the epidemic and the risk factors in each community. The groups discuss which people have the greatest risk for HIV infection and what kind of prevention programs work best for these community members. Once the CPG membership have selected appropriate interventions to address the needs of the population they serve, these interventions are then complied into an Area Action Plan (AAP) that is submitted to TDSHS which then becomes the state HIV/AIDS prevention plan for the state of Texas.  The state then submits this plan to the CDC for funding of these programs in Texas.

Beginning in 2003, TDSHS contracted with The University of Texas Southwesern Medical Center at Dallas to provide technical assistance to the CPGs in the State of Texas.  These technical assistance activities include:

• Developing core competencies for CPG members to conduct HIV prevention planning
• Strategic planning and evaluation of the CPGs community assessment activities
• Identification of populations of interest using epidemic profile data
• Planning and implementing community assessments
• Analysis of qualitative data
• Prioritization of identified populations
• Selection of appropriate interventions that will address the influencing factors of risky behaviors for identified populations

Hepatitis C Integration Evaluation Project

In 2000, the Texas Legislature provided nearly 3 million dollars to fund the integration of hepatitis C counseling and testing into existing HIV counseling and testing and a statewide media campaign, a project that became known as the Hepatitis C Initiative. 

Following the two year funding period, the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS) contracted with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (UT Southwestern) to develop an evaluation effort.  This project involved a qualitative interview guide,  interviews at 14 of the 21 sites funded by TDSHS to integrate the hepatitis C counseling and testing into their existing HIV counseling and testing, and the analysis of interview data. 

From January until July 2004, UT Southwestern conducted interviews with supervisors and counselors at the 14 representative sites.  The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded for relevant themes using a qualitative research software package.  Consequently, a final report on the findings was prepared and will be available for review in the near future. 

Outcome Monitoring

In 1999, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published guidelines for health departments to follow in developing systems to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of CDC-funded HIV prevention programs. In January 2002, the Texas Department of State Health Services contracted with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (UT southwestern) to design an Outcome Monitoring (OM) plan that is consistent with the CDC guidelines.

The goal of the OM Project is to build the capacity of HIV prevention providers throughout the State of Texas to implement outcome monitoring activities. Outcome monitoring is the systematic collection of information about the progress of clients participating in an HIV risk reduction intervention. Outcome data help providers determine if intervention objectives are being met. Data related to a client's knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors are typically collected immediately prior to and after the intervention. These data should answer the question: Did the expected outcome occur? This information is collected only after it has been determined that the intervention has been implemented as designed and has reached the targeted population.

Outcome monitoring data measure immediate and intermediate outcomes. Immediate outcomes describe the immediate changes in a client's knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, or skills as a result of participation in an intervention. Intermediate outcomes occur some time after the intervention has been completed and assesses changes in a client's behaviors and acquired skills. The OM Project focuses on the immediate outcome of individual- or group-level interventions, prevention case management, and counseling, testing, and referral services to clients.

UT Southwestern's primary tasks in developing the OM Project include: 1) conducting research to identify the best practices in OM; 2) developing materials; 3) conducting training workshops to build capacity of providers to carry out OM activities; and 4) implementing OM with HIV prevention contractors across the State of Texas.