Center for Advancing Health Policy and Practice at Boston University School of Public Health.
Boston University School of Public Health.
This is the second quarterly newsletter from the Center for Advancing Health Policy and Practice at Boston University School of Public Health (formerly known as the Health & Disability Working Group). This issue focuses on our expertise in technical assistance. Look for our next newsletter, focusing on training, in September. If you would like to continue to receive quarterly updates from us and have not yet done so, please subscribe.

Technical Assistance:
Supporting organizations as they improve their practices and systems of care
 A state Title V program seeking to address inequities in children's health, a public health department trying to share promising practices in HIV treatment, a federal agency working to bring effective interventions to scale--these are all organizations who have benefitted from technical assistance provided by the Center for Advancing Health Policy and Practice (CAHPP) at Boston University School of Public Health.  Supporting organizations as they work to advance the health and well-being of the people they serve is a primary component of our mission.  Here are 3 recent examples where CAHPP provided technical assistance:

Addressing Health Care Coverage Inequities
Tutorial Helps Maternal and Child Health (MCH) and Family Leaders Address Inequities among CSHCN
The Catalyst Center, a project of CAHPP, has been the national center for financing care for children with special health care needs (CSHCN) for over 8 years.  Catalyst Center staff have created Health Care Coverage and Financing for Children with Special Health Care Needs: A Tutorial to Address Inequities to help MCH leaders, family leaders, and other stakeholders understand and address health care coverage inequities that exist among vulnerable subgroups of CSHCN. Last month, Catalyst Center staff hosted a webinar to introduce the tutorial. Title V staff from Alaska and Michigan joined the webinar to share the strategies they have successfully implemented to reduce inequities among Native American, rural populations and other racial and ethnic minority groups of CSHCN.

Because children's health policy varies widely by state, the Catalyst Center also provides one-on-one technical assistance to program staff and policy makers in individual states.
Guiding organizations to expand access and improve retention in HIV Care
MDPH's Strategic Peer-Enhanced Care and Retention Model
Although current medical treatments have improved health outcomes for many people living with HIV, engagement and retention in health care and adherence to antiretroviral treatment continues to be a challenge.  In 2011, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDHP), Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences, undertook the Strategic Peer-Enhanced Care and Retention Model or SPECTRuM project. From its inception, CAHPP staff and consultants worked with the MDPH and its partner sites to develop and evaluate two interventions that work together to enhance prompt linkage to care, intensively support retention in care, and improve adherence to prescribed treatments.  CAHPP documented these efforts and worked with the MDPH team and clinic staff to create an implementation manual that describes the service approaches and lessons learned from the initiative, including many of the assessment tools and direct care resources used.

This was a true partnership from the first grantee meeting. We are looking at different mechanisms to improve linkage to care, using surveillance data much more effectively and efficiently, and developing closer partnerships with health centers and community-based organizations, all as a result of SPECTRuM.
"This was a true partnership from the first grantee meeting," recalls Sophie Lewis, Service Planning Manager, Office of Health Care Planning, Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences, Massachusetts Department of Public Health.  "The BU staff's breadth of experience around the peer component and knowledge of evaluation helped inform the development of both the peer-nurse component and the data evaluation. The impact of this project has been significant.  We are looking at different mechanisms to improve linkage to care, using surveillance data much more effectively and efficiently, and developing closer partnerships with health centers and community-based organizations, all as a result of SPECTRuM."

MDPH staff will bring copies of the intervention manual to the Ryan White conference next month, where they will present their work on SPECTRuM to other HIV health care and service delivery providers in a workshop.
Bringing HIV interventions to scale nationwide, evaluating effectiveness
The Dissemination and Evaluation Center (DEC)
Last year, the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded a $2.5 million cooperative agreement to CAHPP to serve as the Dissemination and Evaluation Center (DEC) for a five-year, national, first-of-its-kind project to disseminate and test evidence-informed HIV interventions for populations facing disparities. AIDS United and CAHPP will partner to adapt four previous HRSA HIV care interventions for replication, and then evaluate and disseminate successful practices to clinics and other HIV caregivers. In a recent joint press release, AIDS United and CAHPP announced the selection of 12 HIV care sites nationwide to implement one of four interventions focused on the needs of women of color, people who use opioids, or those who are transitioning back into the community from jail.

For more examples of how we provide assistance focused on improving policies, practices, and systems of care, visit our website's Technical Assistance page.


If your organization would like technical assistance to enhance the system of care for the people you serve, please contact us for a free, confidential consultation.

Upcoming Event
2016 Ryan White Conference on HIV Care & Treatment
Date: Tuesday, August 23 - Friday, August 26, 2016

CAHPP staff will present innovations in HIV care related to several projects. If you are attending the Ryan White Conference, keep an eye open for our workshops and presentations.

Learn more

Visit our website at cahpp.org
Boston University.


Center for Advancing Health Policy and Practice at Boston University School of Public Health


Center for Advancing Health Policy and Practice | Boston University | School of Public Health | 715 Albany Street | Boston | MA | 02118-2526