Internet Connectivity and Health Information Access for

Underserved Community Based Organizations:

The Houston AIDS Information Link Provides a Successful Model

Stephanie L. Normann and Jeffrey A. Meyer

Why was HAIL formed?

• Early in the AIDS epidemic, Houston HIV infected individuals, their caregivers, and the affected community expressed a need for identifying and conveniently obtaining current, accurate, scientific information about HIV/AIDS treatment, care and prevention.

• Disparities in information about HIV between healthcare workers and the affected community

For whom was HAIL organized?

• HIV affected community

• Clinical healthcare workers

• Social services providers

• Health educators

• Information providers/librarians

Who funded HAIL?

• The National Library of Medicine’s AIDS Community Outreach grant initiated in 1994 and five successive expansion grants

• Considerable contributions made by organizations – HAIL agencies donated staff time and services; Neosoft donated Internet service and web page hosting for each agency

Who Belongs to HAIL?

• 15 culturally diverse organizations including African-American and Hispanic service organizations

• Clinics, service and educational agencies, and public and health sciences libraries

• National, state, county, city, private, public and not-for-profit organizations

HAIL Member Organizations

Participating Houston-Based Organizations

University of Texas - Houston School of Public Health Library 1994, is the lead agency with management responsibilities for the NLM AIDS project awards.AIDS Education and Training Center - Texas and Oklahoma, 1994- 1999AIDS Foundation Houston 1997AIDS Foundation Houston - Spirit Wellness Center, 1999Amigos Volunteers in Education and Services, Inc., 1995Bering Omega Community Services , 1997 Body Positive / Houston - The Wellness Center, 1998Center for AIDS: Hope and Remembrance, 1995

HAIL Member Organizations, cont’d

Harris County Hospital District, Northwest Health Center, 1999Harris County Hospital District, Thomas Street Clinic, 1994Harris County Sheriff's Department, Medical Service Bureau, 1996Houston Public Library (Central and Montrose branch), 1994Montrose Clinic, 1994 StatScript Pharmacy - Houston, 1999WAM Foundation, Inc., 1996

Participating Galveston-Based OrganizationsAIDS Coalition of Coastal Texas, Inc., 1997

University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, 1997- AIDS Clinical Trials Unit- Moody Medical Library

HAIL Activities - Technical

• PCs with Internet connectivity provided for each CBO

• HAIL web page created: http://www.hailinfo.org- guides users to significant HIV resources- links to HAIL members’ home pages

• Help member CBOs create their own home page and mount their educational materials, i.e., newsletters, programs, etc.

Center for AIDS

Web Search at HAIL Workstation

HAIL Activities - Networking

• Monthly steering committee meetings

• Networking and interagency coordination among HAIL staff members and their organizations

Monthly Steering Committee Meeting

HAIL Anniversary Event

Houston Politicians Express Interest in HAIL

HAIL Activities – Networking cont’d

• Exhibiting and demonstrating computer HIV/STD resources at local, state, national, and international HIV focused meetings

• Collaborating with CBOs and projects outside of HAIL to support their educational efforts, e.g., training and grant writing -- ISP, Project LEAP, SHAPE

Project Row Houses – Children’s PC Lab

Internet Training Class for Outreach Workers at Project Row Houses

HAIL Activities - Education

• Training sessions for HAIL agency staff on computer basics, database searching (AIDSLINE, etc.), the Internet, web page writing, etc.

• Steering committee monthly meetings provide educational opportunities, e.g., speakers from service agencies, updates on web-based information resources, etc.

• Librarian invited to City Health Dept. and community agencies to enhance their own training activities.

HPL Opening of Consumer Health Initiative at Houston Community Center

What are the Benefits for Staff and Clients?

• Skills learned in finding, evaluating, and retrieving appropriate health information on the Internet

• Knowledge gained about wellness and living with HIV

• Communication facilitated between informed caregivers and patients

• Computer and Internet technology incorporated into the CBO’s workplace

• Networks and coalitions built among HAIL CBOs

Why is HAIL successful?

• Diverse populations are represented by the HAIL consortium CBOs which is reflected in the steering committee

• HAIL supportive of each agency mission • Lead HAIL agency acts as a facilitator. Planning

and decision making are participatory – everyone has an equal voice

• Regular steering committee meetings provide opportunity for representatives to share their expertise, promote networking between agencies and client referral

Why is HAIL successful?, cont’d

• Education and training stimulate outreach programs of member agencies

• Staff take pride in their skills in being able to locate the most up-to-date information on HIV and other health topics on the Internet. This helps the agencies fulfill their mission.

• Information projects focusing on underserved community based organizations benefit from the support of the resources of a health sciences library.

Where are we going now?

NLM Outreach Grant officially ends next month but HAIL project will continue:

• To meet on a quarterly basis• To send email alerts to HAIL members about events,

new Web resources, HIV prevention, etc.• To downlink CDC broadcasts• To volunteer at Health Fairs and other community

events of interest to members• To visit member agencies, update software, etc.• To be out in the community to hear what the affected

community wants and respond to their needs