Kaiser Gives Tri-City Health Clinic Grant for HIV Testing

From Kaiser Permanente

Oakland — A Tri-City non-profit that provides mobile HIV testing in nightclubs and motels has received a $75,000 grant from Kaiser Permanente to expand its outreach to African-American Latino youth, a population group disproportionately affected by the AIDS epidemic.

Tri-City Health Center, which serves Fremont, Hayward and also Oakland and
Livermore, will use the grant to expand HIV testing to African-American and Latino young gay men, day laborers, and transgender youth. Last year, Tri-City tested and counseled nearly 1,400 youth in Alameda County.

“These funds are instrumental in helping Tri-City Health complete the work that we do on HIV/AIDS prevention and education in the community,” said Juliana Schirmer, development director of Tri-City Health Center. “State funding for HIV/AIDS education and testing has been radically cut in recent years and we’re now looking to our community partners to provide the necessary funds that allow us to continue providing these much needed services.”

The grant is part of a $525,000 support from Kaiser Permanente of seven Northern California organizations working to increase HIV testing and counseling among youth — with a focus on African-American and Latino youth ages 15-24. The goal is to prevent new HIV/AIDS infections in populations disproportionately affected by the epidemic.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), racial and ethnic minorities
represent 70 percent of new AIDS cases in the U.S.

The organizations serve communities with a high incidence of HIV and AIDS in
Northern California. This is the third year these grants have been awarded. The grants were awarded through a fund Kaiser Permanente established at the East Bay Community Foundation.

Research from the CDC shows that HIV and AIDS continue to impact minority and young populations disproportionately:

• One-third of new infections occur in people under 30—the largest share of any age group.
• Nearly 25 percent of those infected with HIV are unaware of their status.
• Racial and ethnic minorities represent 38 percent of the youth population between the ages of 13 and 19, but account for 88 percent of HIV diagnoses in this age group.

Organizations receiving the grants were selected for their abilities to reach and provide screening to the targeted populations as well as to connect clients with HIV/AIDS support services, including education to help clients stay HIV-negative and case management for those who test positive.

The San Francisco AIDS Foundation will use its grant to reach 18- to 24-year-old Latinos to provide HIV education, offer screening services, and provide referrals for support services through a promotora model. Promotoras are individuals from the community who are trained to offer health education and serve as liaisons with health-care and social-service organizations.

The Black Coalition on AIDS, also in San Francisco, plans to offer health and wellness services and prevention efforts specifically targeted at the African-American community.

In Oakland, a grant will help the HIV Education and Prevention Project of Alameda County to continue to run a peer-driven HIV/AIDS testing and education program.

Last year the group reached 621 youth and young adults, most of whom were African-American.

Planned Parenthood Shasta Pacific is using its grant to increase HIV testing in Antioch, Richmond, El Cerrito, Hilltop, Pittsburg, Vallejo, and Walnut Creek with a special emphasis on at-risk populations including 15- to 24-year-old African-Americans and Latinos. Last year Planned Parenthood Shasta Pacific administered 14,500 HIV tests, along with counseling and prevention information, to clients, including a young Latino man who tested positive. When informed of his results, he asked for additional education materials to share in the community, saying he wanted to know how to protect others from getting HIV because one of his partners didn’t tell him that he had HIV and he didn’t know how to protect himself.

“I want to make sure that never happens again,” he said.

In Santa Clara County, Asian Americans for Community Involvement will use its grant to expand outreach and testing through partnerships with city colleges, homeless shelters and substance-abuse programs.

The Center for AIDS Research, Education, and Services in Sacramento will use its grant to continue HIV and STD testing efforts for Latino and African-American youth, with an emphasis on reaching gay youth through peer counseling, a social-marketing campaign, and offering testing at bars and nightclubs. Last year the organization used its Kaiser Permanente grant to support testing and counseling for more than 1,600 youth of color, including one 16-year-old who said he had had never heard of HIV before he was encouraged to seek testing. After he tested positive, he was referred for medical services—the first time he had ever been to a doctor, he said.

Kaiser Permanente has also partnered with Youth Radio, an internet and public radio station presented by young people, to create a video encouraging youth to get tested:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5us3PAEArPA . The video addresses some of the reasons youth avoid HIV testing and provides information on educational resources.

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About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We serve approximately 8.9 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more
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