Terry Saunders Lane | PubMed Health

PubMed2003

Choices and voices: participation of people with HIV on Ryan White Title II Consumer Advisory Boards.

This article presents an assessment of the functioning and training needs of consumer advisory boards in Massachusetts (CABs) who advise the Massachusetts agency and the consortia funded through Title II of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act. The study found that the stage agency and the CABs valued the role of consumers in policy making, but the mechanisms for translating this goal into reality were not always clear or available. The CABs wanted more opportunities to interact with HIV/AIDS Bureau staff and with one another. The CAB members expressed need for ongoing training and technical assistance for themselves and for consortia staff. This project was an example of action research, for the purpose of change and mobilization.

Advisory Committees↗

PubMed2002

Teaching and learning by example: empowerment principles applied to development, delivery, and evaluation of community-based training for HIV service providers and supervisors.

This article describes and recommends a participatory method of developing, implementing, and evaluating a learner-driven community-based continuing education effort for HIV workers and supervisors. The Boston University School of Social Work (BUSSW) created and delivered a training program in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health HIV/AIDS Bureau (the Bureau). Because teaching empowerment-based practice was an overarching goal, every step of the process modeled collaboration and self-determination. The program was unusual in several ways: the workshops focused on basic helping skills rather than the medical aspects of HIV; community stakeholders shaped the workshops in consultation with staff from the Bureau and BUSSW; a formative evaluation led to adaptations of the curriculum in the first few months of the project; objectives were set in part by learners, who evaluated themselves on goal attainment; and follow-up interviews explored the effects of the workshops on practice. Most supervisors and direct care workers reported that the workshops were highly relevant to their work and that they were able to incorporate their learning into practice, suggesting that the empowerment approach has utility. The report includes the genesis and necessity of the project; the principles underpinning it; the use of empowerment at each stage; and implications for administrators, service providers, and educators in the HIV field. We propose that resources dedicated to collaborative or participatory curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation are well spent.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗