The final day of USCA 2017 included a HRSA session, Supporting the Leadership of Jurisdictions in Integrated HIV Prevention and Care Planning. This workshop reviewed the status of HRSA and CDC efforts to promote integrated HIV prevention and care planning in order to integrate activities and improve outcomes across the HIV Care Continuum as well as technical assistance available on integrated planning activities.
Local and state decision-making about Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program service and funding priorities are driven by community planning. This is a function of Ryan White legislative requirements and is guided by the planning infrastructure that has been crafted over the decades--from planning body mechanisms to needs assessments to comprehensive plans to priority setting methods.
Integrated Planning TA and Training
The Integrated HIV/AIDS Planning Technical Assistance Center (IHAP TAC) offers the following services to RWHAP grant recipients and planning bodies. IHAP TAC is administered under a HRSA cooperative agreement with JSI Research and Training Institute, Inc. The IHAP TAC may be contacted at [email protected].
Available Services:
- Pre-implementation: How to get going on your Integrated Plan
- How to publicize and disseminate the Integrated Plan and its activities to stakeholders
- Identifying roles and responsibilities for Integrated Plan implementation
- Integrating HIV prevention and care at all levels
- Monitoring and Improving your Integrated Plan: Identifying measures, updates, successes and more
- Collaborating across jurisdictions (e.g. across multiple states or with RWHAP Part A recipients)
Select Ideas for Improving Integrated Planning
Participants in the workshop identified several strategies to improve integrated planning or where assistance might be needed.
Strategies for improved integrated planning:
- In one jurisdiction, a planning body member described how input into his jurisdiction's Integrated HIV Prevention and Care Plan included focus groups with people in geographically remote areas and with agencies, such as housing and corrections, that did not routinely participate in planning body meetings.
- Another individual suggested his jurisdiction would benefit from the development of more protocols/job descriptions to help new staff understand their roles with respect to facilitating an integrated and transparent planning process.