Engagement & Retention in Care

Engagement and Retention in Care helps providers to implement strategies that increase patients likelihood of getting into and remaining in care. Providing whole-person care to patients means addressing all of a person’s health and social needs to actively engage in their health. Addressing a person’s needs for housing, substance use treatment, mental health, food insecurities, and so on, can ensure a patient has the bandwidth for things like attending appointments and taking medications. More importantly, engagement in care is vital for the patient to reach an undetectable virus level.

HIV Case Management

Clinics should be mindful of the ways that they provide services to their patients. It is crucial for social workers, clinicians, and providers to be aware of the best ways that they can provide care to their patient population in order to keep patients engaged in care. Case managers help patients navigate health care systems and provide a greater continuity of care. They are an essential part of the healthcare team, and help to reduce burden by shifting these tasks away from the medical providers. They ease the patient’s process of entry into care, and increase that person’s engagement and retention in their health. The Pacific AETC provides training for case managers that will teach them the skills required to assist patients with navigating their care, and the resources that are available to their patients so that all of their health and social needs are met.

Local Partner Experts:
Pacific AETC – Arizona Pacific AETC – Central Valley & Northern Interior Pacific AETC – Orange County & Inland Empire Pacific AETC – San Diego & Imperial

Mental Health

The stigma surrounding mental health issues is pervasive and ever present, and this greatly increases the people who either are turned away from care or do not seek help. Pre-existing or undiagnosed mental health issues complicate a person’s ability to access and stay engaged in care. A better understanding of mental health helps to ensure greater access to better equipped services for this population. The Pacific AETC can help providers learn how to screen patients for mental health disorders, and provide sensitive and appropriate services to patients living with mental health issues.

Data to Care

Data to Care (D2C) is a public health strategy that (1) uses a variety of data sources to identify persons living with HIV who are in need of medical care and (2) facilitates linkages to care services. The overall goal of D2C is to increase the retention of patients in medical care and to suppress viral rates of persons living with HIV.

Local Partner Experts:
Pacific AETC – Arizona