The SelectHealth ETE Program, in partnership with Alliance for Positive Change, finds SelectHealth members living with HIV who are not currently in treatment and brings them back to medical care. The program pairs these members with specially trained outreach workers called peers.
Dr. Bill LaRock and his team from SelectHealth meet each week with peers from Alliance for Positive Change to talk about these members’ care needs and how to bring them back into care. Once members are back in care, the Program helps them get to the goals of having an undetectable level of HIV and better overall health.
The ETE Program team helps members in many ways, including advocating for a member’s special health needs. For example, the program recently helped a member get approval for a wheelchair when they learned that without this equipment the member had been unable to leave their home for several months.
Additionally, the ETE Program’s peers, some of whom are living with HIV themselves, work closely with members to give hands-on support. Peers help members make doctor appointments and arrange transportation, fill prescriptions, and may go with them to medical visits. Peers can help explain health information and help members stay in treatment by checking in and making appointments for follow up care. Peers may also connect members with support groups and other services they may need.
The program is paid for by a New York State Ending the Epidemic (ETE) grant. It has been highly successful in bringing members back into care and is now in its seventh year.