Strengthening Community Involvement in Partner Services

Background: Partner Services (PS) performed by health department staff is sometimes met with resistance and mistrust from patients.

Objectives: To describe a PS project involving community-based organization (CBO) HIV test sites and a campaign to increase awareness of PS and its benefits for the public, private providers and community partners.

Methods: Three formal trainings were conducted and a protocol established for CBOs to conduct partner elicitation activities.  CBO counselors completed field and interview records for health department review.  Based on a pilot in one region, and with input from community partners, a “Disclosure Assistance Campaign (DAS)” with a variety of print materials and a web page was launched statewide to promote PS

Results: Preliminary 2009 STD*MIS case management reports for DIS and CBOs showed a CBO contact index of 1.9 compared to 0.9 for DIS with one CBO achieving an index of 4.3.  86% of providers surveyed thought the DAS campaign materials were effective in explaining PS.  DAS Website hits increased from 242 per month in 2008 to 339 per month in 2009.

Conclusions: CBOs can provide an effective non-traditional alternative for PS activities.  The success of CBO PS may be partially attributed to factors including smaller client caseload, clients voluntarily seeking services at the CBO versus DIS approaching clients and/or partners at their homes or work, and single focus of CBOs upon HIV.

Implications for Programs, Policy, and/or Research:Successful PS partnerships between CBOs and public health providers may be effectively extended to include syphilis and other priority STDs.  Inclusion of CBOs and promoting the benefits of PS has helped demystify a pubic health process often viewed negatively, and has enhanced professional relationships between all parties serving at-risk populations.  Benefits can be especially noteworthy in a resource constrained environment.