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Around 80 HIV patients in Greater
Boston participate in the Prevention and Access to Care and Treatment program.
It is operated by the nonprofit Partners in Health, which is best known for its
global work. Started in 1997, PACT assigns trained community health workers to
help patients who have failed to thrive in spite of medical intervention.
“Almost all of the people who are
referred to us are people of color, are poor, and often have a lot of
psychosocial issues,” said Dr. Heidi Behforouz, PACT’s founder. “We’re not
supplanting the medical services they’re getting. We’re basically enhancing or
complementing them.”
PACT’s six staffers are not trained
medical professionals; rather, they work to motivate and guide patients,
providing practical solutions to help them take good care of their health.
Organizers aim for clients to graduate from the program after 1.5-2 years.
PACT’s costs - about $6,000 per patient per year - are funded by the state,
foundations, and private donors.
A 2009 analysis of Medicaid billings
found that inpatient hospital expenditures for PACT patients declined by 62
percent, while their use of outpatient and pharmacy services increased. PACT
and another community health worker program at Boston’s Fenway Institute hope
to expand to serve other patients, including those at risk of HIV and those
battling other chronic diseases.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
