Special Projects of National Significance - Cooperative Agreements - Project Title: Street Medicine Interventions for People with HIV who are Unsheltered - Capacity Building Provider Applicant Organization Name: The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health Address: 1340 Boylston St. Boston MA 02115 Project Director Name: Alex S. Keuroghlian, MD, MPH Phone: 617-927-6064 Fax: 617-267-0764 Email: akeuroghlian@fenwayhealth.org Website: fenwayhealth.org/the-fenway-institute Grant program funds requested: $1,250,000 per year People with HIV who are unsheltered (i.e., who sleep in places that are not intended for human habitation, such as streets, parks, and under bridges) are less likely than the general population with HIV to engage and stay in care, take antiretroviral therapy as prescribed, and reach and maintain HIV viral suppression. It is therefore critical to innovate and replicate interventions that effectively respond to the needs of people with HIV who are unsheltered. Street medicine is a promising intervention because it brings integrated care teams directly to unsheltered spaces where people live, sleep, and congregate. Street Medicine Interventions for People with HIV who are Unsheltered is a four-year initiative funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration HIV/AIDS Bureau (HRSA HAB) Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) Program. The overall goal of the initiative is to adapt, evaluate, sustain, and disseminate street medicine interventions that effectively respond to the needs of people with HIV who are unsheltered and out of care or not consistently retained in care. The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health, Division of Education and Training (TFI-DET) proposes to serve as the capacity building provider (CBP) for this initiative. TFI-DET is a renowned leader in training, technical assistance, resource development, and dissemination for health care teams and organizations seeking to improve health outcomes for people with and affected by HIV. Since 2005, we have engaged hundreds of thousands of health care staff and providers through our virtual and in-person educational programs, conferences, and multimedia resources. Moreover, our nearly 15 years of experience as a recipient of HRSA cooperative agreements makes us uniquely qualified to serve as the CBP for this initiative. TFI-DET is partnering with the National Health Care for the Homeless Council and the University of Southern California Street Medicine to accomplish the initiative’s goals. In addition, we have engaged an Advisory Council comprising practitioners, educators, client advocates, people with lived experience, researchers, and administrators who work for organizations at the forefront of HIV care and street medicine innovation. As the CBP, we will closely collaborate with an Evaluation Provider and ten RWHAP demonstration sites to meet the initiative’s objectives. Specifically, we will (1) provide training and technical assistance, using a collaborative, peer-to-peer learning approach, to support sites with adapting, implementing, documenting, sustaining, and disseminating street medicine interventions; (2) measure, track, and report all technical assistance provided; (3) support the Evaluation Provider with conducting a rigorous multi-site evaluation grounded in implementation science; (4) coordinate and facilitate twice annual multi-site meetings; and (5) create and disseminate user-friendly, multimedia implementation materials that will serve as tools for other RWHAP settings to replicate street medicine interventions and provide enhanced care and support for their clients.
