Newsroom

The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth’s Center for Health Policy has received a new round of federal funding to improve the quality of and access to HIV/AIDS health care and support.

The grant is from the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration. HSC’s Center for Health Policy is a sub-grantee of the South Central AIDS Education Training Center housed at the University of New Mexico Health Science Center. The HSC SC-AETC is one of 10 AETC regional partners and the sixth in Texas. The grant provides HSC with about $250,00 annually.

The funds will be used by the AETC in a multi-faceted effort to offer training and technical assistance for providers treating people with or at risk of HIV/AIDS.

“This is an opportunity to significantly contribute to HIV training and education across North Texas within the reputable and nationally recognized AETC program,” said Dr. Waridibo Allison, vice president of health policy, principal investigator and clinical director of the HSC SC-AETC.

The South Central AETC is the regional training arm of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, the largest federal program designed specifically for U.S. residents with HIV. First enacted in 1990, the program serves more than half of those in the country diagnosed with HIV. The mission of the AETC is to improve the quality of life of people with or at risk of HIV through the provision of high-quality professional education and training.

The activities HSC’s arm of the AETC will undertake through this grant include providing training and technical assistance to providers treating patients with or at risk for HIV; developing innovative and interactive educational tools for regional health care providers; partnering with a clinical practice site to provide coaching and organizational capacity building; supporting providers to facilitate access to HIV prevention and care; and improving health outcomes for marginalized populations.

“The HSC SC-AETC is uniquely positioned to increase the size and strength of the HIV clinical workforce in our community while focusing on improving health equity,” said Dr. Stacey Griner, assistant professor in the HSC School of Public Health, co-investigator and program director of the HSC SC-AETC.

Last year, the Center for Health Policy was awarded $3 million by the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration in a separate grant to address HIV workforce shortages in the South and establish a project known as the Targeted Access Knowledge and Education on HIV, or TAKE on HIV, for health professions programs. The project uses an evidence-based, sustainable and replicable approach to integrating the National HIV Curriculum e-Learning Platform into health professions programs and to collecting, synthesizing and sharing its data.

Both these federally funded programs put the Center for Health Policy and HSC at the forefront of HIV workforce education, training and support.

• Share
• Tweet