The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) approached CITAR to develop a brief behavioral approach to encourage newly diagnosed HIV positive individuals to enter medical care promptly after their diagnosis. CITAR staff, led by Harvey A. Siegal, Ph.D. and Richard C. Rapp, M.S.W., developed a five session strengths-oriented case management intervention that was tested in a clinical trial in four metropolitan areas: Atlanta, Baltimore, Los Angeles, and Miami. Dr. Siegal and Mr. Rapp developed and implemented the training protocols for case managers in the Antiretroviral Treatment Access Study (ARTAS). ARTAS Linkage Case Management (ALCM) was found to improve linkage with medical care; after one year, 64% of case managed participants, compared to 50% of non-case managed participants were linking to care, an adjusted 37% difference (Gardner et al. 2004).

The success of ARTAS Linkage Case Management led CDC to fund a ten city/region demonstration project to test the intervention in real world settings. CITAR was chosen to refine the previous treatment protocols and deliver training to case managers and their supervisors at each of the sites. The three step training consisted of: 1) case managers attending basic training at Wright State University, 2) site by site preceptorships where ARTAS case managers came to Wright State again to observe CITAR case managers, and 3) trips to each site by CITAR staff to monitor implementation of the intervention.

ARTAS Linkage Case Management is being replicated in other areas, most notably throughout the state of Florida. Mr. Rapp, D. Timothy Lane, M.Ed. and Carey Aselage Carr, M.P.H. have assisted the state in training staff and initiating the project.

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Submissions from 2005

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Efficacy of a Brief Case Management Intervention to Link Recently Diagnosed HIV-Infected Persons to Care, Lytt I. Gardner, Lisa R. Metsch, Pamela Anderson-Mahoney, Anita M. Loughlin, Carlos del Rio, Steffanie Strathdee, Stephanie L. Sansom, Harvey A. Siegal, Alan E. Greenberg, and Scott D. Holmberg