in
“FOR LOVE OR MONEY”
Funded by the Office of AIDS Programs & Policy, Los
Angeles County Department of Health Services
What are HIV/AIDS health education/risk
reduction (HE/RR) prevention services?
HIV/AIDS health education/risk reduction (HE/RR) prevention services are comprehensive programs
that provide individual assessments of personal risk factors for HIV infection if HIV-negative and for HIV infection
or HIV transmission if HIV-positive. These
services develop and utilize a variety of strategies for enhance
personal risk reduction efforts and they implement strategies to support
and maintain behavior change. The delivery
format of TASLA’s program includes targeted outreach, group-level,
individual-level, community-level and health promotion interventions.
What is the target population for this
program? Prevention services are provided to Adult and Youth men
who have sex with men and women (MSM/W) and Adult and Youth women at sexual risk
(WSR) who reside in Los Angeles County’s Supervisorial Districts 4 and 5.
What is TASLA’s part in this effort to
educate about HIV/AIDS and reduce the risk of infection of HIV and other STDs?
TASLA
provides services to those at high or moderate risk for HIV infection and/or
those who are HIV+.
Who is
a high-risk individual? A high-risk
individual acknowledges having practiced unprotected sex or shared injection
drug paraphernalia at least three times in the previous three months with someone who has HIV or whose serostatus is
unknown, AND one (1) or more of the
following co-factors: 1) has a diagnosed or diagnosable mental illness, 2) has a
diagnosed or diagnosable substance use disorder, OR acknowledges using crack
cocaine or methamphetamine in the past three months, OR reports sex while high
on any substance in the past month, 3) has a diagnosis or symptoms consistent
with sexual addiction or compulsion, 4) has an STD or has exchanged sex for
food, money, shelter or drugs in the past three (3) months.
A
moderate-risk individual reports having unprotected sex or sharing injection
drug paraphernalia with a person who has HIV or whose serostatus is unknown at
least
What is the importance of our outreach
efforts? TASLA’s
Outreach Services are defined as educational interventions that are generally
conducted by outreach workers or paraprofessional educators face-to-face with
high-risk individuals in neighborhoods or other areas where the target
population gathers. Outreach
activities can take place in such sites as streets, bars, parks, bathhouses,
shooting galleries, among others.
The primary
purpose of Outreach is the recruitment of individuals into more intensive
services. These interventions are conducted by program staff in person with
high-risk or hard-to-reach individuals.
TASLA
provides appropriate risk reduction information and materials, including risk reduction literature; condoms, lubricant, and safer
sex instructions; bleach, water, and directions to properly clean needles and
works.
Other aspects
of Outreach include the outreach worker’s discussion of TASLA’s other programs and how the individual can benefit from these
services.
What do the Outreach Workers do? TASLA outreach workers/health educators gather the
following required documentation during Outreach: date of encounter; location
including address or cross street and zip code; client name, identification
number, or unique identifier; age or age range; race/ethnicity; gender; behavior
risk group; and phone number. Outreach staff set up an appointment with each client for
intake and/or provide a Linked Referrals. A
Linked Referral is the direction of a client to a specific service as indicated
by the client assessment. At
a minimum, a Linked Referral will include: referral information provided in writing and verification regarding the client's access to services.
TASLA
outreach workers conduct a risk assessment for
the following activities: Outreach encounters, one-on-one or small group risk
reduction counseling, prevention and education support and/or discussion groups,
and workshops.
It’s all about the Risk Assessment,
isn’t it? For the
purposes of this program, Risk Assessment is defined as the comprehensive
evaluation and determination of a client's risk for HIV infection based on the
client's self-report. It is a face-to-face interview with each client to assess, at a minimum, HIV risk behaviors.
In addition, it may comprehensively assess health; STD history; substance
and alcohol use; mental health; sexual history; social and environmental
support; skills to reduce HIV risk; barriers to safer behavior; protective
factors; and to evaluate the clients strengths, competencies, needs, and
available resources. This process is
accomplished by utilizing a risk assessment form.
Is there training for the Outreach
Staff? Staff
training shall include HIV/STD and
Hepatitis information, Outreach policies and procedures; rapport building;
understanding outreach in a scientific context, engagement strategies, cultural
sensitivity; health information and demonstration strategies; confidentiality
and ethics; laws and regulations; burn out prevention; knowledge of social
services in the area; and conducting a risk assessment; materials distribution;
and documentation.