The University of Massachusetts Lowell, in collaboration with AIDS United, and the Center for Innovation in Social Work & Health (CISWH) at the Boston University School of Social Work (BUSSW), were thanked for being the first national body to lead. a kind project to evaluate and disseminate evidence-based sensitive interventions and trauma for black women with HIV.
This task is particularly timely:
- It comes on the heels of a year defined by racial inequality in health care, political and social unrest, and increased calls for racial and social justice.
- It supports key federal health initiatives, such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Ending the Epidemic of HIV (EHE) as well as the Health and Services Resource Management Strategy (HRSA) to address violence close partner.
- It incorporates a bundled intervention approach in recognition that multi-faceted strategies can address socio-cultural health determinants more effectively, expand service use, and ultimately improve outcomes. health for Black women.
According to the CDC, black women represent 57 percent of all new HIV studies among women. Black women also experience inequitable violence, including intimate partner violence, at higher rates than other women, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
COVID-19 highlighted health differences in our country and the unequal burden in Black communities. In the field of HIV, we have long known that this is true. That is why funding for such projects is so necessary and why we need to continue to explore innovative interventions to ensure fair access, treatment and outcomes for Black women. “
Serena Rajabiun, principal investigator, UMass Lowell
Through the Black Women First campaign, grant recipients implement at least two bundled interventions, which may include areas of focus such as:
- Better patient referral, case management or peer communication
- Red Vehicle Care Experience to address barriers to HIV care
- Reduce stigma
- Use of informed trauma care
- Self-efficacy, health literacy and flexibility
- Intimate partner violence (IPV), sexual violence or other behavioral needs
“The importance of this initiative cannot be overstated. Black women do not live the life of a single subject where health issues can be addressed by using a cookie cutting method. The bundled intervention approach offers a unique opportunity to provide a range of proven strategies to support Black women. , while involving black women in all aspects of this project from inception, execution, evaluation and dissemination, “said Valerie Rochester, chief program officer at AIDS United.
This work is funded by the HHS Office of the Deputy Secretary for the HIV / AIDS Minor Health Fund (MHAF) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), HIV / AIDS Bureau, Ryan White HIV / AIDS Program Part F: Projects Outstanding Significance (SPNS) and includes 12 grant recipients across the country:
- Abounding Prosperity Inc. in Dallas, Texas
- AccessMatters in Philadelphia
- AIDS Care Group in Chester, Pa.
- AIDS Foundation in Chicago, Ill.
- AIDS Service Center in Lower Manhattan, New York
- Philadelphia City in Philadelphia
- Grady Health System in Atlanta
- Institute of Women & Ethnic Studies in New Orleans
- Positive Impact Health Centers in Atlanta
- Quality Comprehensive Health Center in Charlotte, NC
- UCSF Women’s HIV Program in San Francisco, Cal.
- American Volunteers, SE Louisiana in New Orleans
UMass Lowell and CISWH will lead the evaluation activity of the project, and AIDS United, in partnership with Imperative Black Women ‘s Health, will provide implementation experience and technical support to the 12 grant recipient sites. The mission and vision of the UMass Lowell Center for Population Health is to establish long-term interventions in diverse populations, which effectively reduce the incidence of disease and improve the overall quality of health and well-being. .
“When we look at the interventions, not only do we evaluate ‘how they work,’ we also look at how they make them so fundamental in the future. possible so that they can access communities across the country that need them most and are serving at the forefront of HIV infection. “Rajabiun said.
Source:
University of Massachusetts Lowell