The goal of EIS & P4P is to decrease the number of under-resourced individuals with HIV/AIDS by increasing access to care. EIS & P4P also provide the added benefit of educating and motivating persons living with HIV on the importance and benefits of getting into and staying in HIV care.

The Institute for Public Health Innovation offers community health worker (CHW) models of early intervention services in Virginia.

IPHI employs four CHWs in Northern and Northwest Virginia to facilitate access to HIV medical care and social services for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). The project has an emphasis on populations that often face barriers to entering and remaining in care, potentially including communities of color, women living in poverty, immigrants, individuals with substance abuse or mental health challenges, the homeless, young gay and bisexual men, those recently released from prison/jail, and others.

CHWs pursue various short-term activities, typically lasting 3-6 months, until new or disengaged consumers fully engage in HIV care. Our CHWs:

• Find people living with HIV/AIDS who are not currently receiving medical care;
• Build peer-based trust and provide information about living with HIV;
• Provide personalized assistance to help PLWHA enter and navigate service systems; and
• Support PLWHA throughout the early part of their care until they become fully engaged in that care.

CHWs as part of inter-disciplinary teams:

Northern Virginia EIS and P4P CHWs are based at community-based and medical sites and work closely with clinical and case management staff. This is critical so they can effectively identify the clients to focus on and coordinate CHW support services with those of the case manager and other staff.

Presently IPHI CHWs are placed at:

• Fredericksburg Area HIV/AIDS Support Services (FAHASS)
• AIDS Response Effort (ARE)
• Alexandria Neighborhood Health Services Inc (ANHSI)

Some CHWs cover non-clinical points of entry, including testing sites and various community-based organizations, and partner with clinical sites and hospitals to support community outreach and linkage to care, including:

• INOVA Juniper Program
• The Infectious Disease Clinic of Mary Washington Hospital
• NOVA Salud
• Fauquier Clinic
• Health Departments across Northern Virginia

IPHI conducts evaluation for these projects, and analysis captures process outcomes and client-level outcomes for these initiatives.

This project is funded by Ryan White Part A funds through the Northern Virginia Regional Commission and by the Virginia Department of Health.