DEBI Web Site Login:Partnership for Health

Partnership for Health

A Brief Safer-Sex Intervention in HIV Clinics

Partnership for Health (PfH) uses message framing, repetition, and reinforcement during patient visits to increase HIV positive patients' knowledge, skills, and motivations to practice safer sex. The program is designed to improve patient-provider communication about safer sex, disclosure of HIV serostatus, and HIV prevention. Implementation of PfH includes development of clinic and staff "buy-in" and training.

Announcement: PfH Training of Trainers (ToT) is scheduled for October 15-16, 2008 in Naples, Florida - Presented by UT Southwestern and hosted by the Florida Department of Health and Collier County Health Department. To RSVP and for more information, please click here.

PROGRAM FUNDAMENTALS

4 to 6 months start-up period
On-site Coordinator (half-time during start-up, quarter-time thereafter)
1/2 day training of all clinic staff
Orientation and booster training(s)
Ongoing communications to patients
Program monitoring and evaluation

PROGRAM MATERIALS

The intervention materials that are used to build and maintain supportive relationships between the provider and patient include: exam and waiting room posters, informational flyers, brochures, provider pocket guides, and medical chart stickers to document counseling.

View Packaged Posters

For More Information on Partnership for Health

To view the PfH orientation video, click here. If interested in viewing endorsements of PfH by HIV primary care providers, please click here .

To request a training for your clinic, please review all the materials included in the Starter Kit before requesting training. Training is specifically for HIV clinics who can deliver/participate in the Program Fundamentals listed above. Training is limited at this time. If you believe you have the capacity to implement the intervention and would like to request training for your clinic, please send your request with your contact information (name, title, organization, address, phone, email) to Interventions@aed.org with "Request for PfH Training" in the subject line. A representative from AED will contact you to further discuss your request for training.

To request technical assistance for PfH, you may contact Daniel Casillas, Program Coordinator with the Capacity Building Assistance Center (CBAC) at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 400 South Zang Blvd., Suite 520, Dallas, TX 75208. Office: 214-645-7327. Email - Daniel.Casillas@UTSouthwestern.edu.

Research and Development

Richardson, J.L., Milam, J., McCutchan, A., Stoyanoff, S., Bolan, R., Weiss, J., Kemper, C., Larsen, R.A., Hollander, H.,
Weismuller, P., Chou, C.P., Marks, G. (2004). Effect of brief safer-sex counseling by medical providers to HIV-1
seropositive patients: A multi-clinic assessment. AIDS, 18:1179-1186.

PfH Resources & Tools

PfH Fact Sheet

Providers delivering the intervention to HIV-positive patients in HIV outpatient clinics;

The clinic adopting prevention as an essential component of patient care;

All clinic staff trained to facilitate prevention counseling into standard practice;

Waiting room posters and brochures used to reinforce prevention messages delivered by the provider;

Supportive relationships built and maintained between the patient and the provider;

During routine visits, the provider initiates at least a 3- to 5-minute discussion with the patient or client about safer sex that focuses on self-protection, partner protection, and disclosure;

The provider incorporates good communication techniques and use of consequences-framed messages for patients or clients engaged in high risk sexual behavior;

Referrals provided for needs that require more extensive counseling and services; and

The prevention message integrated into clinic visits so that every patient is counseled at every visit.