At
the center of African Services' HIV care and support services is our
case management program. Since 1994, we have provided low-threshold,
city-wide family case management service to hundreds of HIV-positive
immigrants and their family members each year. Through this program,
our diverse, multilingual staff of licensed social workers, serve as
personal advocate and ally for each client.
Case
managers assist clients with referral to health care; application for
health insurance, such as ADAP and Medicare; hospital escort and
interpretation; and HIV/AIDS education and treatment adherence. They
also play a critical role assisting HIV-positive clients considering
disclosure of HIV status to their partners and families and
facilitating voluntary partner/contact notification for reportable
conditions such as active tuberculosis or syphilis.
Clients in case management are in turn referred to African Services'
other HIV/AIDS care and support programs including, risk reduction,
housing placement, PWA support groups, Independent Living
Skills/Program SOLEIL, as well as our Food Pantry and ESL classes.
Access to Care: Health Care Partners
Nearly all of the Health and Hospitals Corporation facilities in the
five boroughs rely on African Services for culturally-competent case
management for their African HIV patients. Referring hospitals include
St. Vincent's, Bellevue, Bronx Lebanon, Lincoln, Harlem, New York
Presbyterian, North General, Metropolitan, and St. Luke's. African
Services and the linked primary care facilities, work in partnership to
provide comprehensive medical and supportive services for HIV, TB and
STDs to immigrants regardless of insurance coverage, language,
literacy, age, gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.
Our case management program has been replicated in African communities in the U.S. and abroad.
