• Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Meeting Update: Workshops Selected, TA on Planning Sessions
• Connecting to Care” Workbooks Available in English and Spanish
• Web Conference on HIPPA and Data Sharing: June 26, 2:00 – 3:00 pm ET
• Webcast on CAREWare New Performance Measures Module: June 20, 1:00 - 2:30 pm ET
• Wyoming AETC Featured as Face of Ryan White on TARGET Center
• NQC TA Call on Increasing Patient Show Rates: June 25, 3:00 pm ET

OTHER NEWS

• New Issue of “mental health AIDS” Addresses Cognitive-Behavioral Interventions, Stress Management Interventions
• Spanish Language Website, infoSIDA, Redesigned
• Satellite Broadcast on Health Implications of Caregiving: June 25, 1:00 – 2:30 pm ET
• HIVMA Awards Two Minority Clinical Fellowships

HRSA/HAB NEWS
Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Meeting Update: Workshops Selected, TA on Planning Sessions

The 2008 Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Meeting will be held August 25-28, 2008 in Washington, DC. Many thanks to everyone who submitted abstracts for workshops. We received over 260 abstracts. Many of the proposed workshops have been combined based on topic. We anticipate that seven institutes and 180 workshops will be conducted during the meeting. Popular topics include: quality, data, collaboration and linkages, and cultural competency.

For those of you who will be presenting workshops at the meeting, tips for preparing workshops are available. These cover the next steps for planning workshops that were accepted for presentation. The tips are available as the “Featured Resource” on the TARGET Center home.

More information on the conference is available.

“Connecting to Care” Workbooks Available in English and Spanish
“Connecting to Care” workbooks are now available in both English and Spanish on CD-ROM. The workbooks are a collection of 42 methodologies to link people living with HIV to appropriate and continuous medical care. Included are interventions that specifically address the needs of individuals currently or formerly incarcerated and those living in rural communities. To request copies, send an email to < connectingtocare@aidsaction.org >.

The “Connecting to Care” initiative is carried out by the AIDS Action Foundation with support from HRSA/HAB. For more information on the project go to the Sources of TA page on the TARGET Center.

Web Conference on HIPPA and Data Sharing: June 26, 2:00 – 3:00 pm ET
Registration is now open for the web conference, “HIPAA and Data Sharing,” scheduled for Thursday, June 26 at 2:00 pm ET. This is the first in an occasional series of web conferences addressing common data challenges faced by Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program grantees. This web conference will focus on HIPAA regulations and their impact on data sharing practices such as data collection, data management, and RDR data reporting. This webcast is presented by the Ryan White Data TA Cooperative Agreement. To register, and to download accompanying materials.

Webcast on CAREWare New Performance Measures Module: June 20, 1:00 - 2:30 pm ET
A webcast on the new performance measures module for CAREWare will take place on Friday, June 20, 1:00 - 2:30 pm ET. Space is limited but if this training reaches capacity, another webcast on the topic will be scheduled in the future. To register, go to the following link.

Wyoming AETC Featured as Face of Ryan White on TARGET Center
The Wyoming AETC is the latest Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program grantee featured in a photo on the TARGET Center. Clinical training for Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program grantees in the upper Midwestern region of the U.S. is delivered via the Mountain Plains AETC, including the Wyoming AETC local performance site. See their photo and learn more about the program.

Interested in getting your program featured as a Face of Ryan White? Submit a photo and a brief summary of a resource (e.g. protocol, program innovation) from which other Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program grantees could benefit. Submit.

NQC TA Call on Increasing Patient Show Rates: June 25, 3:00 pm ET
The next NQC TA call, "Patient Show Rates: How Do We Make a Difference?” will take place on June 25, 3:00 pm ET. The learning objectives for this intermediate-level TA call include: 1) understanding the patient-level and system-level factors associated with patient show rates for appointments; 2) learning how to use your data to target and initiate improvement efforts to improve continuity of care; and 3) learning successful strategies from the field to access resources and literature for evidence-based strategies. Space is limited, so register now.

After you register, you will receive a confirmation e-mail with the call-in number for the meeting and instructions for logging on to the Webex Internet session.

The National Quality Center is funded by HRSA/HAB to provide technical assistance on quality improvement to grantees of all Parts. For more information on the National Quality Center or to request on-site technical assistance.

OTHER NEWS

New Issue of “mental health AIDS Addresses Cognitive-Behavioral Interventions, Stress Management Interventions

The summer 2008 issue of "mental health AIDS" focuses on research on HIV-related cognitive-behavioral interventions and their interface with stress management interventions. In a relatively short period of time, several major reviews and meta-analyses have been published of interest to practicing clinicians who offer cognitive-behavioral interventions, stress management interventions, and cognitive-behavioral stress management interventions to people living with HIV. This issue highlights the considerable promise of these interventions when employed with this population as well as limitations in the research conducted to demonstrate their utility and in the approaches themselves.

"Mental health AIDS," a quarterly biopsychosocial research update on HIV and mental health, is sponsored by the Center for Mental Health Services of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. It is available.

Spanish Language Website, infoSIDA, Redesigned
infoSIDA has launched a new and improved home page design. infoSIDA is the Spanish-language sister site of AIDSinfo and offers information about HIV treatment and clinical trials. All content is available in Spanish and created specifically for patients. The site offers patient-level fact sheets, clinical trial information, a glossary of HIV-related terms, and much more. “infoSIDA al instante,” a Spanish-language e-newsletter, is also available. Additionally, Spanish-speaking health information specialists are available to answer questions by phone at 800/448-0440 (M-F, 12-5 pm), online via Live Help (M-F, 12-4 pm), or by e-mail. Visit the redesigned website.

Satellite Broadcast on Health Implications of Caregiving: June 25, 1:00 – 2:30 pm ET
A satellite broadcast, “Health Implications of Caregiving,” is designed to address the challenges facing caregivers in managing their own health and highlight various resources in response to those needs. The broadcast will take place Wednesday, June 25, 1:00 – 2:30 pm ET. The goal of this broadcast is to provide caregivers and providers with information on the impact caregiving can have on health, self-care tips, approaches taken by several organizations to support family, caregivers and to spotlight several innovative programs that encourage caregivers to care more for their own health. The broadcast is sponsored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), in partnership with the New Freedom Initiative (NFI) Subcommittee on Caregiving. For more information and to register as a viewing.

HIVMA Awards Two Minority Clinical Fellowships
The HIV Medicine Association (HIVMA) has awarded two Minority Clinical Fellowships. The HIVMA Minority Fellowship recipients will begin their one-year fellowships in July. The fellowships provide each recipient a stipend plus benefits for one year as well as financial support for the fellow’s mentor. Recipients work with HIVMA mentors at institutions serving large minority populations where they receive clinical training while continuously managing HIV-infected patients in hospitals and clinics.

Damaris Olagundoye, MD, who is finishing a residency in obstetrics and gynecology, will focus on HIV and pregnancy and reducing rates of transmission to the fetus. She will receive mentoring and clinical instruction from Stephen Raffanti, MD, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Comprehensive Care Center (CCC), one of the largest free-standing HIV clinics in the country, both in Nashville. Veronica Ayala-Sims, MD is finishing a combined residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). She will complete her fellowship with Daniel Nixon, DO, PhD, at VCU.

For more information on the awards.

In addition to the resources listed above, don’t forget to check out these other HAB resources, which are updated regularly.

TARGET Center, Central Source for Ryan White TA

The HAB Information E-mail is distributed biweekly by the HRSA/HAB Division of Training and Technical Assistance (DTTA). To subscribe or unsubscribe contact < pjones1@hrsa.gov>.