Positive Connections: Connecting HIV-Infected Patients to Care, 2004-2006 [United States] (ICPSR 22482)

Principal Investigator(s): Bradford, Judith, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Fenway Community Health

Summary: The research study Positive Connections tested the Health Systems Navigation (HSN) model, an intervention linking near-peer interventionists with underserved HIV-infected individuals to assist them to become engaged and retained in HIV medical care through supportive services and facilitated referrals. Working with a core group of local AIDS service organizations to identify unstable and out-of-care HIV-positive individuals, the HSN will enroll and provide health system navigation to participant... (more info)

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Bradford, Judith. Positive Connections: Connecting HIV-Infected Patients to Care, 2004-2006 [United States]. ICPSR22482-v1. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2010-06-16. doi:10.3886/ICPSR22482.v1

Persistent URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR22482.v1

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This survey was funded by:

• United States Department of Health and Human Services. Health Resources and Services Administration. HIV/AIDS Bureau (H97HA00191-05-07)

Summary:   The research study Positive Connections tested the Health Systems Navigation (HSN) model, an intervention linking near-peer interventionists with underserved HIV-infected individuals to assist them to become engaged and retained in HIV medical care through supportive services and facilitated referrals. Working with a core group of local AIDS service organizations to identify unstable and out-of-care HIV-positive individuals, the HSN will enroll and provide health system navigation to participants. The principal goal was to enhance the probability that individuals from historically underserved populations would become engaged and retained in high quality, culturally competent HIV care. The theoretical basis for this intervention included individual behavior change models, social and community networks, and provider cultural competence. This project also sought to improve the understanding and the measurement of health care access problems by seeking to determine which problems have indicators and which do not, and to identify steps that can be taken to develop a reliable access monitoring system. The concept of Health Systems Navigator has been developed by the Multicultural AIDS Coalition.

Subject Terms:   AIDS, ambulatory care, bisexuality, communicable diseases, diseases, doctor visits, gay community, gays and lesbians, health attitudes, health care, health care access, health care delivery, health care services, health services utilization, health status, HIV, homosexuality, illness, medical care, medical evaluation, mental health services, patient care, physician availibilty, physician choice, physician patient relationship, primary care, treatment compliance

Geographic Coverage:   New England, United States

Time Period:  

• 2004--2006

Date of Collection:  

• 2004--2006

Unit of Observation:   individual

Universe:   HIV-infected persons 18 years old and older in New England.

Data Types:   survey data

Study Purpose:   Positive Connections tested the Health Systems Navigation (HSN) model, an intervention linking near-peer interventionists with underserved HIV-infected individuals to assist them to become engaged and retained in HIV medical care through supportive services and facilitated referrals.

Study Design:   Participants were referred and recruited into the study through community based organizations that provide services to people living with HIV. The study was primarily interested in HIV-infected people who were unstable and out-of-care.

Sample:   Local HIV/AIDS service organizations identified unstable and out-of-care HIV-positive individuals.

Mode of Data Collection:   record abstracts, face-to-face interview, mail questionnaire, on-site questionnaire, telephone interview

Data Source:

agency-sponsored surveys

clinical records

Description of Variables:   Variables collected include information on the services related to the care of HIV-infected participants, specifically the types, location, duration, and frequency of services. Additional variables include specific information on the barriers to receiving and staying in care, such as participants' relationship with care providers, stigma, recent drug use, and mental health.

Presence of Common Scales:   Several Likert-type scales were used

Extent of Processing:  ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

• Performed consistency checks.
• Created variable labels and/or value labels.
• Standardized missing values.
• Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.

Original ICPSR Release:  2010-06-09

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