New England AIDS Education and Training Center (NEAETC) UMass Medical School 55 Lake Avenue North Worcester, MA 01655 www.neaetc.org Phone: 508.723.4012 PI: Philip Bolduc, MD Co-I/PD: Vanessa J. Carson-Sasso, MSW philip.bolduc@fhcw.org vanessa.carsonsasso@umassmed.edu Grant program funds requested: Regional AETC Base Program (Base), Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI), and Ending the HIV Epidemic in the United States (EHE) Initiative Funding Preference: See Attachment 8 Since 1988, NEAETC has been continuously funded to serve New England which includes Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. As part of the AETC Program, NEAETC consists of a local network of HIV experts who collaboratively work to increase and support a workforce capable of, and who intend to, provide care and treatment to people with or at-risk of HIV. During the next 5-year period of performance, NEAETC will build on its previous work and successes and implement a modernized and strengthened program framework based on industry standards. NEAETC’s 35 years of experience, well-developed long-term relationships and expert faculty are assets to implement and sustain this work. NEAETC’s Local Partners (LPs) are affiliated with, or housed in, a Clinical Center of HIV Excellence. Each LP leverages experts who are nationally and internationally known and faculty who are clinicians with practice experience in a variety of settings and represent different disciplines and areas of expertise. In support of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS) and HIV care continuum, NEAETC conducted a planning process to identify needs and develop goals. NEAETC engaged RWHAP Parts A – D, and F Program recipients and other stakeholders and reviewed state Integrated Prevention and Care Plans. The results provide the framework for this project, which includes the three required components and associated activities listed in the table below. Regional Base Program FH
: NEAETC will educate and train health care team members currently not involved in HIV care to increase their ability to prevent new HIV infections, identify people with HIV who are undiagnosed or out of care, and link patients not on antiretrovirals to care. PT: NEAETC will continue to implement process improvement, training, and technical assistance to increase the capability of organizations t o implement system-level changes and enhance clinical practice to improve the provision of care and treatment to PWH and prevention of HIV in priority populations at increased risk. IPE: NEAETC will continue to assist faculty in health professions programs to create interactive learning environments designed to increase the number of health professionals able to effectively work in a team-based approach to improve care and treatment of people with HIV. CEE: NEAETC will increase the ability of health care team members currently involved in HIV care to offer quality services based on current national treatment guidelines and standards and to increase the skills to offer comprehensive care to PWH. MAI: NEAETC will continue to support targeted and specific workforce training and capacity-building activities to support organizations and health care team members who have historically provided culturally and linguistically appropriate care, services, education, or training to racial and ethnic minorities. EHE: NEAETC will collaborate with RWHAP recipients in Suffolk County, MA (only EHE jurisdiction in NE) to conduct activities to support the EHE initiative by implementing strategies, interventions, and approaches to address the unique training needs of the health care workforce and organizations in Suffolk County.