Title I HIV/AIDS funding and healthcare services in Miami-Dade County

¶ … programs and actions taken by health agencies to support cities and communities in their fight against the spread of HIV and AIDS virus. It will also discuss the demographic information of cities with high rate of HIV / AIDS, as well as other statistics in relation HIV / AIDS. Particular in this study is a discussion on one of the HIV / AIDS major areas - Miami.

Moreover, this section will provide the reader with an overview of the benefits that the health programs provide in different states and what they bring to communities of HIV / AIDS. It will explore on the success of such programs in terms of combating the disease.

A combat against HIV and AIDS, through an increased funding for health centers and services, is the main objective of this study. This specifically focuses on areas where most of the HIV / AIDS patients are financially unstable. By expanding the number of health services that health centers provide, this study aims to help more HIV / AIDS patients. Some of the ways that this study finds important are provision of training programs, medical consultancies, and medical testing.

Title I is a grant that supports financially incapable HIV / AIDS patients. Included in this grant are different healthcare support services such as medical and dental care. There are 50 cities that are in critical needs and are supported by this grant. One program in this type of grant is the Public Laws 101-381. This was passed by the Congress in 1990 and was extended until 2001 by former President Bill Clinton. Another program is the Ryan White Care that supports the needs of HIV / AIDS patients through a less-costly consultations and effective community-based prevention programs.

Areas Affected with HIV / AIDS and the Disease's Statistics

Among the affected areas of the disease, Miami is the fourth nation that has the highest rate of HIV / AIDS population. According to research and studies, in 100,000 residents, 58.3 are affected with the disease and majority of them live in Miami-Dade County. Found to be proportion in the growing rate of AIDS in this area is substance abuse. Through the fundings that will be obtained from this proposal grant, as they will be used to increase the health care services to HIV / AIDS affected areas, it is hoped that the number of HIV / AIDS population will decrease.

Most of the HIV / AIDS cases in Miami-Dade County account to minority races, 60% of HIV cases are African-Americans and Hispanics. The estimated AIDS population in the county is 100,000 while the HIV prevalence is 30,750.

The improvement of healthcare services for HIV / AIDS patients is a grant in the Title II of this study. This grant focuses on the quality and accessibility of health care supports such as home and community-based supports and drugs and treatment support. These services are granted to 50 states where $2.7 billion has been appropriated since 1991.

Another grant, Title III, is a grant for the funding of a comprehensive treatment and care for patients of AIDS/HIV. This grant aims to provide education and counseling programs to prevent the spread of the disease. Currently, there are 174 HIV / AIDS programs within 37 states that serve communities fight HIV / AIDS.

Title IV, on the other hand, is a grant for a coordinated participation of health care service centers.

This study focuses on the acquirement of funding based on Title I. This option, as compared to the three other titles, is considered the most important because of the high population of HIV / AIDS in Miami. With a large number of HIV / AIDS patient, it is essential that the number of healthcare service centers and health programs against HIV / AIDS must be sufficient to contribute in the prevention of the disease.

A PTERIV

Objective #1

To obtain funding from sponsors to increase the accessibility of services to clients at risk or infected with HIV. The funding is aimed to be used in the provision of different health care services such as dental care, medical care, treatments, drugs, assistance to health insurance, risk reduction counseling, and many others, to HIV / AIDS patients particularly in Miami-Dade County.

Hypothesis # 1: Miami is the fourth state that has the highest number of HIV / AIDS cases. Per 100,000 individuals, 58.3 is estimated to have HIV / AIDS.

Hypothesis # 2: There are remote areas in Miami-Dade County that are not reached by the health services of Borinquen Health Care Center.

Objective #2

To enroll 300 new patients per year into the HIV Phoenix Program. This estimate aims to increase the number of patients undergoing treatment to provide them with medications and to provide them with the chance of living longer.

Hypothesis # 1: The prevalence of HIV in Florida is 30,750 where approximately one-third have AIDS, another third have HIV but have not yet developed into AIDS, and the final one-third is unaware of their HIV / AIDS condition.

Objective #3

To provide counseling and testing to 750 persons. Provide patient education for 350 clients, family members, and significant others. These objectives aim to provide awareness to people of Miami-Dade County regarding HIV / AIDS. Through proper dissemination of information about the disease, the spread of HIV / AIDS can be prevented. From Miami-Dade County Health Department web site, they state currently has the following health education and HIV risk reduction programs: AIDS 101, AIDS 104, AIDS Update, Individual Level Interventions, Group Level Interventions, Community Level Interventions, Safer Sex Workshops, Female Condom Training, Senior HIV Intervention Program.

Hypothesis # 1: The prevalence of HIV in Florida is 30,750 where approximately one-third have AIDS, another third have HIV but have not yet developed into AIDS, and the final one-third is unaware of their HIV / AIDS condition.

Objective #4

To refer patients for substance abuse counseling and specialty care as appropriate.

Hypothesis # 1: According to research and studies, substance abuse is among the causes of irresponsible and unsafe sex. The county of Miami-Dade, having a high population rate of HIV / AIDS cases, has similarly a high population rate of substance abuse.

Objective #5

To provide 1000 outreach encounters, to provide two or more HIV / AIDS training opportunities for each staff member of the Phoenix Program, and to open dental programs for HIV / AIDS patients.

Hypothesis # 1: Miami-Dade has a growing population of HIV / AIDS patients since year 1981 to 2000. Thus, the county needs to have more health services and programs to accommodate the growing needs of its people.

Description of the Proposed Intervention

The funding that will be obtained from this proposal grant will be used to add more health care services to those that are currently being provided by the Borinquen Health Care Center as well as other health care services that cater to the needs of HIV / AIDS patients. Such health care services include health education and outreach programs, medical and dental services, drug prescriptions, counseling, and home and hospice care. Also, the funding will be used in improving the quality of health care services being provided to HIV / AIDS patients.

The proposed intervention is a development of diverse programs that will provide assistance to communities that has a high population rate of HIV / AIDS. These programs will serve as additional services to the currently existing programs provided by health care centers. One of the reasons why such additional programs are being proposed is due to the increasing population of individuals affected with HIV / AIDS. Aside from providing assistance to HIV / AIDS patients and their family members, the proposed interventions aim in educating people about HIV / AIDS. Regardless of the location of the people, whether within an accessible place or remote areas, the proposed intervention aims in delivering information to everyone. This can be done be the planned outreach programs as part of the proposed intervention.

Programs can be conducted within areas that are easily accessible. However, for remote areas, mobile clinics will be used to reach people who are unable to visit the health care centers and facilities. Medical and educational services will be provided to such areas. Another plan is to visit places that can be considered HIV / AIDS risks. This includes bars, crack houses, disco houses, etc. By disseminating information about HIV / AIDS in such areas, it is hoped that prevention can somehow took place.

In the objective of putting HIV / AIDS infected individuals under medication and treatment, we are planning to provide free counseling and testing to everyone. Anyone found to be positively infected with the disease will be referred to undergo necessary treatment and care.

The proposed intervention is hoped to provide a great impact in the objective of preventing the increase of HIV / AIDS patients.

Data Collection Plan

To specifically identify the needs of the people at Miami-Dade County regarding HIV / AIDS disease, this study will try to conduct either a quantitative or qualitative analysis. Conducting a research at the Department of Health of Miami-Dade County, regarding the current statistics of HIV / AIDS, or at the different health care centers, will help this research determine the current condition of the disease within the state. Being able to determine this will help our study in identifying the things that need to be provided and done for the county. Thus, facilitating the process of our study to identify better objectives and solutions.

Another method is by conducting interviews with the people of Miami-Dade County, especially with those infected with HIV / AIDS. From such interviews, we can directly identify the personal needs of the patients. Moreover, by also interviewing those who are not infected with HIV / AIDS, we can also learn the condition of none-HIV / AIDS people regarding living in an area that has a high population rate of HIV / AIDS patients. This method of data collection can also facilitate our study's process of identifying better objectives and solutions.

The objectives that were pre-identified in this paper will be presented to interviewees. In this way, we can provide them our own intervention plans and ideas. In turn, we can also gather how they would react on such ideas. We assume that this method will be useful in integrating the researcher's ideas with that of the people who are actually going through the experience of living in an HIV / AIDS highly populated area.