Organizational Capacity

Organizational Capacity refers to a health care organizations ability, preparedness, and capacity to offer healthcare and health care assistance services, such as program management, directing, clinic flow, and logistics, that can improve a patient’s health outcomes.

Health Literacy

Health literacy is a person’s ability to read and understand health information in an accurate manner. Improving a person’s health literacy skills allows them to find care, communicate their health and social needs, and understand services, as well as the context and cultural implications behind them. The Pacific AETC offers courses surrounding health literacy, and how providers can create and distribute resources that are both accurate and easy to digest.

Local Partner Experts:
Pacific AETC – Central Valley & Northern Interior

Sex Positivity

Sex is often a difficult topic to talk about. In many communities and cultures, it is taboo to speak about sex to anyone, let alone a health provider. This creates an environment of uncertainty and fear for patients to discuss this topic, and allows for important sexual and mental health issues to be overlooked. As health providers, we should be comfortable talking about sex with our patients and clients. For this reason, the Pacific AETC provides institution-based, onsite training and technical assistance in applying a sex positive approach to health care screenings, and teaches providers how to create safe spaces to establish a trusting relationship with patients in order to conduct a thorough sexual history assessment.

Local Partner Experts:
Pacific AETC – Arizona Pacific AETC – Bay Area, North & Central Coast Pacific AETC – Orange County & Inland Empire Pacific AETC – San Diego & Imperial

Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity

Because this is a relatively new and evolving topic, there is a lot of confusion about acceptable definitions of terms like: lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, and more. Gender identity and sexual orientation can be fluid. The Pacific AETC helps providers to become comfortable with the language and definitions used by these communities. We offer presentations, communities of practice, coaching for organized capacity building, and clinical consultations for providers and health care organizations that aim to provide culturally appropriate care for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.

Local Partner Experts:
Pacific AETC – Arizona Pacific AETC – Bay Area, North & Central Coast Pacific AETC – Central Valley & Northern Interior Pacific AETC – Los Angeles Area Pacific AETC – Nevada Pacific AETC – Orange County & Inland Empire Pacific AETC – San Diego & Imperial

Transgender Health Care

Providers should be trained in the various health issues and complications with their transgender patients. In the past, often times people who identify as transgender have been denied the healthcare that they need. The Pacific AETC wants to ensure that this does not happen in any health care facility, and offers presentations, communities of practice, clinical consultations, and distance-based learning activities solely for the purpose of educating providers about the issues surrounding transgender people, and teaches providers on how they can be allies.

Local Partner Experts:
Pacific AETC – Nevada Pacific AETC – Orange County & Inland Empire Pacific AETC – San Diego & Imperial

Trauma Informed Care

The PAETC trains providers so that they are able to understand how patients’ traumas can impact their health. This relatively new way that providers can approach patients leads to a better understanding between patient and provider, which ultimately leads to better care administered. Understanding trauma that patients might potentially have makes provider-patient relationships more comforting and less invasive. The PAETC provides presentations communities of practice, and coaching regarding this topic.

Local Partner Experts:
Pacific AETC – Bay Area, North & Central Coast Pacific AETC – Hawai`i & US-Affiliated Pacific Islands Pacific AETC – Los Angeles Area

Patient Centered Medical Home

Patient centered medical home (PCMH) refers to the changing medical mindset of placing patients as the top priority when administering health care services. It focuses on the patient receiving the care that they need, when they need it, and that it is delivered in a manner that they are able to understand. This care delivery model facilitates patient and primary physician relationships.

Local Partner Experts:
Pacific AETC – Hawai`i & US-Affiliated Pacific Islands Pacific AETC – San Diego & Imperial

Stigma

Stigma affects every aspect of the HIV care continuum. Stigma can affect a person’s comorbidity in accessing HIV testing and prevention treatment, engaging in care, taking medications, and being active participants in their health care. The stigma of HIV is a large reason federal health organizations are measuring outcomes along HIV care continuum. Learning about and implementing strategies to reduce stigma is beneficial for providers so they can be well-informed and open-minded about how HIV stigma impacts their patient’s ability to access services.

Local Partner Experts:
Pacific AETC – Los Angeles Area Pacific AETC – Orange County & Inland Empire Pacific AETC – San Diego & Imperial

Cultural Humility & Affirmative Practices

In order to provide the best care possible, a clinic must have a greater understanding of the various cultural, ethnic, or local customs that may or may not affect their patient’s ability to access care. Being culturally humble means being more open-minded and empathetic towards a patient’s cultural influences, which is essentially a more appropriate representation of the concept of “cultural competency.” A better understanding and respect of the norms and unspoken rules of somebody’s culture will help to create welcoming and inclusive health care environments that strengthen patient’s trust in the provider and, more broadly, the health care system.

Local Partner Experts:
Pacific AETC – Los Angeles Area Pacific AETC – Nevada Pacific AETC – Orange County & Inland Empire Pacific AETC – San Diego & Imperial

340B Drug Pricing

The PAETC- Arizona provides training and technical assistance to clinics and service providers looking to learn more about the 340B Drug Pricing Program. Trainings take place in large-group (conference-style) settings, as well as through targeted technical assistance calls and coaching.

Local Partner Experts:
Pacific AETC – Arizona