FY 2005 AIDS Community Information Outreach Projects
NLM Funds 18 AIDS Community Information Outreach Projects in September 2005 in the 12th Round of the Program
NLM has continued its HIV/AIDS- related outreach efforts to community-based organizations, patient advocacy groups, faith-based organizations, departments of health, and libraries. This program provides support to design local programs for improving information access for AIDS patients and the affected community as well as their caregivers. Emphasis is on providing information or access in a way meaningful to the target community. Projects must involve one or more of the following information access categories: information retrieval, skills development, Internet access, resource development, and document access.
Awards were made for the following projects:
Standard Award Projects
AIDS Education Global Information System (AEGIS) “AIDS Community Outreach 2005” (San Juan Capistrano, CA)
AEGiS seeks funding from NLM to assist in providing HIV/AIDS information to patients, the affected community, researchers and caregivers. AEGiS will accomplish this goal by maintaining content development assistance in support of Sr. Mary Elizabeth, the Operations Director of the AEGiS website. Funding will assist AEGiS in the linking of research documentation to NLM’S PubMed abstract database and developing a conference abstract database. AEGiS is presently serving over 900,000 users per month, and has archived over 1.1 million documents dealing with HIV/AIDS. The sources for this information include, but are not limited to, the National Library of Medicine, AIDS Service Organization publications, and Wire services (Agence Presse France, Associated Press, Inter Press Service, Reuters, BBC, Wall Street Journal, etc.) All of this data is archived and is keyword searchable. With these new features, many articles’ footnotes will be linked so that original material is located easily on PubMed, and pre-Internet/CD ROM era abstracts of conferences will be accessible from the AEGIS website. The AIDS Education Global Information System (AEGiS) on the web: http://www.aegis.org.
AIDS Services in Asian Communities (ASIAC) – “Asian & Pacific Islander Consortium HIV Health Information” (Philadelphia, PA)
The ASIAC is a 501(c) 3 community-based organization dedicated to providing culturally sensitive and language appropriate HIV/AIDS related services to Asian and Pacific Islanders (A&PIs) and their partners, family members, friends, and service providers in the Philadelphia area. The partnership between ASIAC, Philip Jaisohn Memorial Foundation, and The Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition forms the Asian and Pacific Islander Consortium (APIC). Through the APIC HIV Health Information project, APIC will design, develop, produce, and distribute HIV/AIDS information brochures alerting A&PIs of HIV/AIDS resources available in their community. The brochures will be available in 5 Asian languages (Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Khmer, and Indonesian) to ensure cultural and linguistic appropriateness, and will address the following HIV/AIDS topics: HIV testing, living with HIV, Women & HIV, and HIV & Youth. The HIV/AIDS information brochures will be distributed to clients through the APIC consortium as well as by other community-based organizations, AIDS service organizations, clinics, and hospitals that work with A&PIs.
Bailey House, Inc. – “Technical Assistance Clearinghouse” (New York, NY)
Bailey House, Inc. was founded in 1983 in Greenwhich Village, New York, and is committed to empowering people living with HIV/AIDS, their loved ones, and the communities and agencies that serve them to achieve their fullest potential through the development and provision of housing, supportive services, and technical assistance. The goal of the Technical Assistance Clearinghouse project is to increase the awareness and access to HIV/AIDS information through the enhancement and expansion of the Technical Assistance Clearinghouse website. The project will be executed regionally within the states of New York and New Jersey and will consist of 3 major components: 1) The addition of HIV/AIDS related health care resources on the existing TA Clearinghouse website, 2) The expansion of the range of resources and marketing efforts for the New York and New Jersey regions, and 3) The development and distribution of a user-friendly guide to health care information via the Internet in three languages and in large type for the visually impaired. The Bailey House, Inc. on the web: http://www.baileyhouse.org.
Brooklyn Public Library – “Know Your ABC’s to Prevent HIV Project” (Brooklyn, NY)
The Know Your ABC’s to Prevent HIV Project is a health information and educational campaign of the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) in collaboration with the Caribbean Women’s Health Association, Wyckoff Heights Medical Center and the Church Avenue Merchants Block Association, Inc. (CAMBA). The project will host workshops and train librarians, community workers from partnering organizations, and other interested community organizations on how to access HIV/AIDS materials and online resources in English, Spanish, and Creole and how to conduct library-based educational programs on HIV/AIDS for adults and teens. In support of the educational and training workshops, BPL will develop an HIV/AIDS collection in English, Spanish, and Creole to be offered in various formats (print, video, DVD, and CD ROM). A bibliography of the collection will be prepared and disseminated in all 3 languages, and identified resources will be featured on the Library’s website. The Brooklyn Public Library on the web: http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org.
Camino de Vida Center for HIV Services – "Southwestern New Mexico HIV/AIDS Resource Development Project” (Las Cruces, NM)
Camino de Vida Center for HIV Services, a non-profit community-based organization, will provide access to printed and electronic information to those living with HIV/AIDS, those affected by HIV/AIDS, their care providers, and the general community. Funding through the NLM will provide the opportunity for the Camino de Vida Center for HIV Services to introduce a centralized HIV/AIDS Information Center within the agency. The Southwestern New Mexico HIV/AIDS Resource Development Project will increase accessibility to HIV/AIDS resources via the Internet, improve user and staff skills in locating HIV/AIDS resources through training, develop catalogs to assist users in locating resources, develop Spanish resources, and increase accessibility to HIV/AIDS related printed materials.
Center for AIDS Information & Advocacy – “Project AIR 2005” (Houston, TX)
The Center for AIDS (CFA) is a nonprofit, community-based organization that provides treatment and research information to people with HIV/AIDS and their caregivers. Since 2001, the CFA has successfully implemented and evaluated Project AIR (AIDS Information Roadshow), an innovative outreach program that has taught HIV-positive individuals, as well as caregivers and service providers, fundamental information about HIV/AIDS disease and treatment. The program provides Internet based training and curricula on how to obtain objective and accurate information about HIV/AIDS research and treatment options. The Project AIR has been successful in reaching minority participants and has been translated and presented in Spanish to better reach monolingual, Spanish-speaking people affected by HIV/AIDS. Through Project AIR 2005 sessions, persons living with HIV/AIDS and their providers/caregivers will be given a blueprint for building their own information “support networks” both virtually (via the Internet) and physically in their community. The Center for AIDS Information & Advocacy on the web: http://www.centerforaids.org.
Community Education Group – “Beat of the Drum” (Washington, DC)
The Community Education Group (CEG), a nonprofit agency, is dedicated to social change through the creation and expansion of programs addressing health, socio-economic, environmental and systemic challenges facing African American families. Through the Beat of the Drum project, CEG will develop and distribute culturally and linguistically appropriate HIV/AIDS educational and informational resources for African American women. Fact sheets, informational booklets, and additional resources available on the CEG website will increase the awareness of HIV/AIDS information resources, prevention, treatment options and issues related specifically to African American women. The Community Education Group on the web: http://www.communityeducationgroup.org.
CORE Foundation – “Comet to the Community – C2 Project” (Chicago, IL)
The purpose of the C2 Project is to enable the CORE Foundation and the John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County Academic Center Library to provide electronic information on HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) to four target communities: patients at risk for becoming infected with HIV diseases, patients living with the disease, affected friends and family members, and allied health care providers. The project is a strategic expansion and enhancement of an already existing computer-based HIV/AIDS patient education course – the COMET program – and extends access to that system and other relevant Internet resources. The target communities will be trained to use COMET and other HIV/AIDS resources in order to access quality health information.
Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board – “Project Red Talon: HIV/AIDS Media Outreach Campaign” (Portland, OR)
The Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB) is a non-profit tribal organization serving the 43 Tribes of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Guided by the Red Talon STD/HIV Coalition, this project will improve access to HIV/AIDS information for tribal youth and other high-risk community members. Project Red Talon will develop and distribute culturally appropriate educational materials to tribal Health Directors, Tribal Health Educators, Community Health Representatives, Tribal Health Clinics, Youth Prevention Coordinators, Tribal Schools, Tribal Youth groups, and Family Services personnel at each of the 43 member tribes. To improve community access and skill development, Project Red Talon will promote the develop HIV/AIDS educational materials in the NPAIHB newsletter, update the Project Red Talon Resource Directory, and will provide training during tribal site visits, Red Talon STD/HIV Coalition meetings, and the NPAIHB quarterly meetings. The Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board on the web: http://www.npaihb.org.
Partners for Health Information – “Partners for Health Information” (Washington, DC)
Partners for Health Information (Partners) disseminates online HIV/AIDS information and teaches information literacy and information retrieval skills to staff and patients/clients of community health centers in the District of Columbia. Partners helps lead the Health Information Partners Coalition, which includes HIV educators, public and health sciences librarians, adult educators, public health organizations, and health providers. Funding from the NLM will enable Partners to expand efforts to disseminate HIV/AIDS and other health information to local communities, provide scientific databases to health center providers, create a new web based teaching tool on HIV, and continue to lead and collaborate with Health Information Partners. The Partners for Health Information on the web: http://www.gwumc.edu/partners.
Regents of the University of New Mexico – "AIDS InfoNet” (Arroyo Seco, NM)
The New Mexico AIDS InfoNet is an on-line HIV/AIDS information resource, providing fact sheets on treatment and related information in non-technical language, in both English and Spanish. Although originally designed to serve the HIV community in New Mexico, the InfoNet has grown into a national and international resource. Fact sheets are viewed approximately 400,000 times each month, including significant usage from outside of the United States. Funding from NLM will support the ongoing maintenance of the existing fact sheet collection and development of selected additional topics. In addition, the InfoNet will collaborate with selected AIDS Service Organizations to arrange for translation of fact sheets into additional languages. In collaboration with the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center Library, the InfoNet web site will be publicized to audiences of public librarians and medical librarians. The New Mexico AIDS InfoNet on the web: http://www.aidsinfonet.org.
River Region Human Services, Inc. – “HIV and AIDS Resource Center (HARC)” (Jacksonville, FL)
River Region, a non-profit 501-©-3 corporation established in 1979, will create an information resource center that will provide client-friendly computer access, internet/computer training, and library resources. The HIV and AIDS Resource Center (HARC) will offer electronic access to a variety of HIV and other health related information, scheduled workshops for participants to improve computer and internet skills and an array of literature and resources specifically for individuals living with the disease, family members, caregivers and professionals who work in the field. The HARC will be integrated into the existing HIV services provided by River Region, and will serve as yet another invaluable resource. The River Region Human Services on the web: http://www.rrhs.org.
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio – “Project Be Aware” (San Antonio, TX)
The Division of Community Pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in collaboration with Planned Parenthood San Antonio are taking the initiative to provide access to health information online to those served at their clinics. Some of the goals of Project Be Aware are to 1) develop an interactive, self-guided, computerized tutorial on HIV/AIDS and sexual health, 2) provide access to HIV/AIDS and other health information at clinics and 3) assess the usefulness of computer kiosks in clinics. Ultimately, the knowledge gained from this project will identify an effective, self-guided, and anonymous way of increasing information exposure among individuals at risk for HIV/AIDS. The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio on the web: http://www.uthscsa.edu.
Express Award Projects
AIDS Council of Northeastern New York – “AIDS Council Targeted Information/Options Network” (Albany, NY)
The AIDS Council of Northeastern New York was established in 1984. The Council currently serves over 1,300 HIV-positive individuals and 500 family members while offering HIV prevention education, professional training, and outreach programs for the community. Funding from the NLM will provide the Council an opportunity to upgrade the current website, administer training for staff, and develop promotional materials to publicize the website. The updated website will include a chat function, instant messaging capabilities, and specific information about HIV/AIDS. The AIDS Council of Northeastern New York on the web: http://www.aidscouncil.org.
Catskill Regional Medical Center - “Ryan’s Internet Café” (Harris, NY)
Catskill Regional Medical Center (CRMC) will collaborate with The Recovery Center to provide improved access to HIV/AIDS related information for HIV patients and their caregivers in New York’s Southern Catskills. The Ryan’s Internet Café project will specifically focus on three information access categories: information retrieval, skills development, and document access. The Recovery Center will provide internet accessible computer workstations in the waiting room for clients to retrieve HIV/AIDS information on the web. Training sessions will be offered for staff members of local HIV/AIDS programs on accessing reliable and up-to-date HIV/AIDS related information resources. Also, the CRMC Health Information Library will support and provide information services to staff, patients, and community members. The Catskill Regional Medical Center on the web: http://www.crmcny.org.
Community Service Network, Inc. – “RURAL AIDS Resource Connection” (Dunn, North Carolina)
Founded in 2003, the Community Service Network (CSN) has a family-community approach in providing programs and services for adult clients in Case Management, Intervention, Community Revitalization, increasing family stability and promoting community cohesion. The purpose of the Rural AIDS Resource Connection Project is to bring HIV/AIDS resources and information to the rural residents of North Carolina who have been affected by the disease. CSN will partner with the local HIV/AIDS Community Task Force, Harnett CARES and the County Literacy Association to offer North Carolina residents a resource center, computer literacy training, and Internet access training specifically for HIV/AIDS. The Community Service Network on the web: http://www.communityservicenet.org.
Manna House, Inc. – “The Information for Survival Project of Manna House Inc. (INFOMANNA)” (Baltimore, MD)
The Manna House, a community based organization (CBO) founded in 1967, is a Soup Kitchen that feeds an average of 175 persons each day. The Manna House, also known as the Drop-In-Center, has expanded its services and now provides assistance to the community to include job training assistance, drug addiction treatment information and counseling, and HIV/AIDS related support. The INFOMANNA project will develop culturally appropriate HIV/AIDS information resources that are Baltimore area specific for the clients of Manna House. Computer workstations will be available for clients and community members, and the staff of Manna House will be trained to access the most reliable and up-to-date HIV/AIDS health information.
Mobile AIDS Support Services – “Knowledge eNables Our Wellness (KNOW)” (Mobile, AL)
Mobile AIDS Support Services (MASS), organized in 1987 as a community-based service organization, provides supporting services to People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWA) and HIV prevention education to the twelve counties of southwest Alabama. The KNOW project will establish an HIV/AIDS information resource room and accessible computer stations to access electronic information. MASS will expand the Mobile Public Library HIV/AIDS resource materials and provide training sessions for PLWH/A, caregivers, and service providers in accessing information resources. MASS will also develop brochures describing the AIDS informational resources and the Knowledge eNables Our Wellness (KNOW) project. The Mobile AIDS Support Services on the web: http://www.masshelps.org.
