Educating HIV/AIDS Providers Along the US/Mexico Border

Background:  Three regional AIDS Education & Training Centers received a Secretary’s Minority AIDS Initiative Funds (SMAIF) to deal with HIV/AIDS along the US/Mexico Border, creating the project known as US/Mexico Border AETC Steering Team (UMBAST) to educate border providers and build treatment capacity.

Program background:  The Texas Border represents more than half of the US/Mexico Border, which is composed of 32 counties with a population estimated at 2.6 million with 4,283 of People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). The US/Mexico border area is considered to have the most disparate health outcomes, economic and health disparities in the nation. This effort is an attempt to evaluate the TX/OK AETC’s effectiveness in providing healthcare workers in the border region with the knowledge and skills to reduce health disparities related to HIV/AIDS, thereby meeting the healthcare needs of PLWHA.

Evaluation Methods and Results:  Since 2010, the TX/OK AETC provided a total of 25 training events (face-to-face and webinar formats) targeting healthcare providers along the four-state Border area representing the UMBAST collaboration. These trainings reached almost 1,000 multi-disciplinary HIV/AIDS providers, 63% of which self-identified being Hispanic/Latino. Trainings were provided in multiple delivery formats including face to face events along the Texas/Mexico Border and web based trainings to reach individuals in the four-state border region as well as elsewhere.  Demographic information captured by a Participant Information Form (PIF) and AETC Cross Region Evaluation – ACRE (a standardized post-event evaluation) were analyzed utilizing SPSS. Results indicated that 73% of participants provide direct services to PLWHA.  About 87% of participants reported that the information presented can be applied in their practice/service setting.  Ninety one percent (91%) reported that learning materials filled a need gap in their knowledge.  Ninety four percent (94%) would recommend the training to their peers or other participants. Sixty five percent (65%) of participants self-rated their knowledge as either ’Novice, Basic or Intermediate’ level before the training. Post-training only 20% of participants rated themselves at these levels. Thirty five percent (35%) pre-training rated themselves as ‘Advanced or Expert’. Eighty percent (80%) of participants self-rated post-training knowledge as ‘Advanced’ or ‘Expert’, thus indicating a 45% increase.  Currently, there is insufficient data to determine if event format is a variable in learning outcomes.

Conclusions:  The four-state border region remains a critical area for HIV/AIDS education. Analysis reveals current educational efforts provided by the TX/OK AETC and UMBAST are relevant and effective. Experience from other trainings indicates an increasing interest in distance learning. However, more data and analysis are required to determine which training delivery format is most effective in increasing knowledge.

Implications for research and/or practice:  An in-depth evaluation of TX/OK AETC border training activities has the potential of yielding valuable information to guide future training initiatives.