Knowledge sharing between the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) community is an important contribution to ending the HIV epidemic in the United States.
The Best Practices Compilation gathers and shares what works in RWHAP funded settings to improve outcomes for people with HIV and to support replication by others.
You can easily search the Compilation and identify effective approaches that fit your organization's needs, by searching on a number of predefined filters, such as setting or focus population, or using a search field.
You can submit information about an effective approach that has worked in your program; doing so helps others replicate your effective approach in their own setting. Sharing and replicating effective approaches is an important step toward ending the HIV epidemic in the United States.
The Compilation includes effective approaches—also known as intervention strategies or interventions—that are actively being used in RWHAP, and other HIV-service delivery settings, to achieve optimal health outcomes for people with HIV. These include either direct medical or support services, or both.
All of the interventions we include have demonstrated effectiveness at improving client outcomes along the HIV care continuum and/or beyond (e.g., food and housing security, employment, other sexually transmitted infections, etc.). Some have published evidence while others have shown their impact at the local level.
Three Categories of Interventions
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) HIV/AIDS Bureau, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Mental Health, developed three evidence categories to describe interventions included in the Compilation:
Category
Definition
Emerging Interventions
Innovative strategies that address emerging priorities for improving the care and treatment of people with HIV. Real world validity and effectiveness have been demonstrated but emerging interventions do not yet have sufficient published research evidence.
Evidence-Informed Interventions
Published research evidence meets HRSA evidence-informed criteria but does not meet Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) criteria for evidence-based interventions. It may also meet CDC criteria for evidence informed interventions.
Evidence-Based Interventions
Published research evidence supporting these interventions meets (CDC) criteria for being evidence-based.
The HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau recognizes that RWHAP-funded recipients and providers are doing highly innovative work across a variety of settings. RWHAP-funded organizations have always been sources of innovation and many have already developed and implemented “home grown” effective approaches that are helping them achieve optimal client outcomes along the HIV care continuum. We created the Best Practices Compilation so that this innovative work could be described and shared widely across the RWHAP. If other RWHAP-funded recipients and providers can replicate these highly innovative approaches and achieve similarly optimal outcomes for their clients too, we can finally eliminate disparities and achieve health equity for all RWHAP clients.
The Compilation launched in October 2021 with 20 profiles, highlighting effective interventions. Each profile includes information on the approach: the key activities essential to the approach's success, information on lessons learned and sustainability, and other resources to support replication by others.
The project's background is described in more detail in this webinar recording:
Importantly, the utility and value of the Compilation will grow by adding more approaches and interventions that programs and agencies are undertaking to improve care and outcomes for clients.
We continue to expand the Compilation in four ways:
We are especially interested in hearing directly from RWHAP-funded programs on effective approaches to improve HIV care and services for clients. We have an online questionnaire where programs can submit information on their approaches.
We review materials and resources already available on TargetHIV.org and use these materials to rapidly develop profiles on existing approaches and interventions to add to the Compilation as quickly as possible.
We review posters and presentations from the National Ryan White Conference on HIV Care & Treatment and other conferences and use these materials to develop profiles for inclusion in the Compilation.
We accept nominations.
We’re looking to add new approaches to the Compilation and are accepting nominations for all types!