Wednesday, January 15, 2025
1/15/2025
The Squaxin Island Tribe’s Health Services Department includes a Medical Clinic, a Behavioral Health and Outpatient Program (BHOP), a pharmacy and dental clinic that serve Squaxin Island Tribal community members’ physical, mental and emotional health needs. The Tribe’s service population for the Clinic is the Squaxin Island Tribal community, which includes Squaxin Island Tribal members, their descendants, and Native Americans/Alaska Natives who live in the Tribe’s service area (parts of Mason and Thurston Counties). The Tribe’s Clinic user population is 1,900. The Community Health Outreach Project will be housed in Health Services (Clinic). The Tribe provides STI screening services, including screening for HIV, HVC, Syphilis, and other STIs, and prescribes treatment as indicated for positive diagnoses, and dispenses medication through the Tribe’s on-site Pharmacy. The Clinic provides individualized services, providing care coordination, and facilitates community education and harm reduction outreach. The proposed Community Health Outreach Project will enhance the Tribe’s current screening, treatment, prevention, harm reduction and prevention programming, while including community outreach, education and input to build a stronger wrap-around prevention, outreach and treatment infrastructure that supports patient and community needs. This project will enhance the ongoing good work in the community to address the syndemic of HIV/HCV/Syphilis. Overall goals: • Reduce incidence of new HIV/HCV/syphilis cases through targeted prevention and outreach strategies; • Enhance screening capacity for HIV, HCV, and syphilis to facilitate early detection and diagnoses; • Improve health outcomes of people living with HIV, HCV, or syphilis by recruiting and retaining people in HIV, HCV, and syphilis care and treatment. Objectives Objective 1: Increase treatment and treatment retention for Squaxin patients who are HCV-positive by connecting at least 2 known HCV-positive patients to treatment each year. • Impact: Increased number of people living with HCV who achieve a sustained virologic response. Objective 2: Increase the number of patients screened for HIV, HCV, and STI infections annually by 10% through community outreach, patient education campaigns, and provider guidance. • Impact: Increased diagnosis of HIV, HCV, and STI infections. Objective 3: Increase linkage to care for people who are diagnosed with an HIV, HCV, or STI infection and provide follow-up care for all patients diagnosed in each year of the project, while connecting patients to additional support services • Impact: All patients with HIV, HCV or other viruses will receive appropriate treatment and care to achieve the best quality of life. Increased number of people who are living with syphilis, chlamydia or gonorrhea who have been treated and cured (baseline data unavailable—goal of screening all patients aged 13 and over within 5 years). Objective 4: Increase the number of AI/AN people initiated on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PreP) by approximately 15 patients; in each year of the project (baseline of two), at least 15 patients will be initiated or sustained on PreP; and implement a safe syringe program for appropriate patients. • Impact: Reduce the incidence of new HIV, HCV and Syphilis infections each year of the project by implementing targeted prevention and outreach services.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).