Director: Larry Ouellet, Ph.D.

1. Community Outreach Intervention ProjectsDivision of Epidemiology and BiostatisticsSchool of Public HealthUIC Director: Larry Ouellet, Ph.D. Director Community Services:Jaime Delgado Founder: Wayne Wiebel, Ph.D.

2. COIP • Founded 1986 by Dr. Wayne Wiebel • Two objectives • Provide an HIV prevention intervention for injecting drug users (IDUs) who were not in drug treatment • Evaluate the intervention

3. How do you access out-of-treatment IDUs? • Illicit drug users hide their drug use • fear imprisonment • fear losing their children • fear losing benefits • Distrust ‘outsiders’ and ‘insiders’ • Illicit nature of drug use • Often treated poorly by mainstream • IDUs said not to care about health

4. Populations Accessed by COIP • Persons at high-risk for HIV, hepatitis, syphilis, other STIs • drug users, sex workers • MSM, particularly minority & non-gay identified • sex partners of HIV high-risk populations • Urban communities of color • Including ‘straight’ populations • ID program • heating assistance program • Suburban & exurban drug users

5. Indigenous Leader Outreach Model • Use former IDUs to deliver intervention • they have access to the target population • shared experience: credible and empathetic • ability to provide services enhances likelihood that indigenous staff will become valued and trusted by community • Target social networks • change group norms to support risk reduction • long term presence in targeted area

6. Five Storefront Offices 1. South Side: West Englewood • original site, Grand Boulevard 2. Near Northwest Side: Humboldt Park • original site, West Town 3. West Side: Austin • site moved once 4. North Side: Uptown 5. Southeast Side: South Chicago 6. Motorhome: North Lawndale & Near West Side

7. Southeast Side Fieldstation

8. Current Services • Street outreach • HIV counseling and testing • case management • counseling: drug abuse, risk reduction • free medical, mental health, pharmacy care for HIV+ • referrals to drug treatment and many other services • testing for syphilis, other STDs • support groups • friendly peers to talk with

9. Research Components • Epidemiologic research • conduct surveys • biologic testing (HIV) • Ethnographic research • ethnographers teamed with outreach workers • guide the implementation of the intervention • conduct research • e.g., how differences in “shooting galleries” affect HIV risk practices and intervention strategies

10. Recommendations to Address Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities

11. 2008 Latino/Hispanic AIDSLeadership Summit January 29th & 30th Washington, D.C.

12. LATINO COMMISSION ON AIDS Research and Evaluation Department 24 W. 25th Street 9th floor New York, NY 10010

13. Immigration HIV/AIDS Services Regardless of Legal Status Protect Current Services Remove Barriers Created by New State Laws

14. Prevention • Increase HIV testing • Integrate HIV into all health messages • Increase testing in non-traditional settings • Increase number of indigenous health workers trained to do HIV testing

15. Research • Fund research that uses socio/ecological/ biological approach and CBPR strategies and principles • Increase flexibility with CDC funding to evaluate and develop homegrown interventions for Latinos • Conduct literature reviews of existing research on Latinos