Regional AIDS Education and Training Centers

  Funding under this announcement will support a network of eight (8) regional AETCs.  Each regional AETC will increase the number of health care providers who are trained and intend to counsel, diagnose, treat, and medically manage people living with HIV (PLWH) and help prevent high-risk behaviors that lead to HIV transmission. You are encouraged to consider how your proposed regional AETC activities will provide innovative, tailored, data-driven training strategies, training and technical assistance, consultation, and clinical decision support at the local and regional levels to health care professionals who provide health care services for PLWH.  Each of the eight (8) regional AETCs covers a designated geographic area.  Combined, the regions include all 50 States, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and the six (6) U.S. Pacific Jurisdictions (Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marians Islands, The Republic of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands). Successful applicants funded under this funding opportunity will be required to collaborate with RWHAP Part A – D and other health care systems and work with other Regional and the National AETCs.  The National Coordinating Resource Center (NCRC) and the National Clinician Consultation Center (NCCC) serve as the National AETCs that collaborate with the Regional AETC Program.  They must provide training, education, consultation, and clinical decision support to diverse health care providers, allied health professionals, and health care support staff through the following four Regional AETC Program components: Core Training This program component aims to increase the number of HIV providers who intend to counsel, diagnose, treat, and medically manage PLWH, particularly by reaching novice and low-volume HIV clinics and providers in an effort to increase the size of the HIV workforce and patient access to quality HIV care. Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI) Activities (At least 20 percent of funding may cut across multiple programmatic components (Practice Transformation (PT), Interprofessional Education (IPE), and Core training) AETCs dedicate approximately 20 percent of their funding to education, training, and technical assistance to increase the capacity of minority providers and minority-serving providers to provide HIV care, increase access to HIV care, and decrease disparities in outcomes along the HIV care continuum among minority PLWH. Practice Transformation (PT) Project (at least 40 percent of funding) In this AETC program component, each regional AETC works with a minimum of six eligible HRSA-funded community health centers (CHCs), of which three (3) must be Ryan White funded and three (3) must be non-Ryan White funded.  Practice transformation activities are derived from the principles of the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model.  Through coaching and practice facilitation, the goal is for the AETCs to assist the selected CHCs in enhancing outcomes along the HIV care continuum. Interprofessional Education Project (IPE) Project (at least 10 percent of funding) Through training and curriculum support by the AETCs, faculty of health professions schools and graduate departments or programs are able to teach students how to provide high quality HIV care to PLWH incorporating a hands-on, team-based learning approach based on principles derived from the Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice: 2016 Update. The goal of this initiative is to increase and strengthen the HIV workforce, thus contributing to improved outcomes along the HIV care continuum. AETCs may provide additional services through the following optional programmatic components: Optional Practice Transformation Expansion (PTE) Project As part of this funding opportunity, you may apply for funds to assist primary health care facilities to increase the capacity of providers to enhance organizational HIV integration within primary care health systems and to effectively manage PLWH who have substance use disorders (e.g., opioid use disorders, Hepatitis C Virus, and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). Optional Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Expanded HIV Testing for Disproportionately Affected Populations As part of this funding opportunity, you may apply for funds to assist health care facilities and health departments to implement routine HIV testing in accordance with CDC’s HIV Testing Recommendations in CDC’s jurisdictions.