Assessment 2 audio Brianna Mingo

This project focuses on an evidence-based plan to improve population health, specifically targeting HIV prevalence in Washington, D.C. The city has the highest rate of HIV in the U.S. and faces environmental barriers in treatment and management. The project aims to reduce new infections, improve health outcomes, and reduce stigma through early diagnosis, reduced discrimination, and prevention education. Outcomes will be measured by tracking new HIV diagnoses, testing rates, and changes in public attitude. The communication plan involves collaboration with Whitman-Walker Health Organization and engaging key stakeholders through meetings, workshops, and awareness campaigns. The plan relies on evidence from World Health Organization and D.C. Department of Health, utilizing electronic health records and social media for widespread communication and monitoring. This project is going to be focused on an evidence-based population health improvement plan. The first slide in this project is going to go over a community data evaluation. We are going to focus on HIV prevalence in Washington, D.C. Washington District of Columbia serves as a microcosm of the global HIV epidemic, highlighting the disparities which define and perpetuate this disease. As of December 2022, the HIV prevalence rate in Washington, D.C. was 1.8% of the population or 11,904 residents. This is the highest rate of HIV in the United States and puts D.C. on par with countries like Haiti, Ghana, and Gambia in the fight against the virus. The common immunodeficiency virus, although treatable, presents a major health risk for those that are positive. HIV not only affects underdeveloped countries, but industrialized countries as well. HIV is most widely spread amongst black populations, low-income, and LGBTQIA plus populations. There are many environmental barriers affecting the treatment and management of HIV in D.C. It has been reported that school, work, physical and structural settings, attitudes, and support, government policy, and public services and assistance are perceived by HIV AIDS patients as having a negative impact in their quality of life, and the second most common barrier reported by both groups was lack of familiar support. Next, we're going to address meeting community needs. The first point is by reducing the incidence of new HIV infections by 50% within five years. This can be done through early diagnosis through increased healthcare access, reducing stigma and discrimination, prevention and education for high-risk individuals. Meeting community needs involves all of those bullet points specifically, but early diagnosis can be implemented by expanding the availability of rapid HIV testing in primary care settings, pharmacies, and community organizations. Reducing stigma and discrimination can be done by launching anti-stigma campaigns to clarify miscommunications. Training of healthcare providers on culturally competent care and non-discriminatory practices can improve the responses to treating patients with HIV. Lastly, prevention and education can be done by using comprehensive sexual education in schools and community centers. How are we going to measure these outcomes? We want to see reduction in new infections, improved health outcomes, and reduction in stigma. Measurement of outcomes by meeting community needs of reduction in new infections, improved health outcomes, and reducing stigma can be done by first, tracking the number of new HIV diagnosis annually to assess the progress toward the 50% reduction rate goal. Increased testing rates can measure the increase in HIV testing rates within the district specifically in the high-risk communities that we are addressing. Lastly, stigma reduction can be measured by assessing the changes in public attitude through surveys and questionnaires. We have created a communication plan to first, collaborate with the Whitman-Walker Health Organization, identify key stakeholders, start with initial engagement, ongoing communication, and community engagement, followed up by evaluation and adjustment. The communication plan to address the pervasive disease of HIV in Washington, D.C. involves collaboration with the Whitman-Walker Health Organization to leverage their expertise and community resources. It is also important to address the key stakeholders in this initiative, which are community leaders, healthcare providers, local government officials, individuals living with HIV and their families, as well as general members of the public. The first part of the communication plan is initial engagement with things such as kickoff meetings and stakeholder outreach. The next part is ongoing communication, which involves monthly progress meetings and regular updates. Then, community engagement follows and involves workshops and seminars, public awareness campaigns, and support groups. Lastly, is evaluation and adjustment, which consists of annual reviews and regular monitoring to assess the effectiveness of the communication strategies and stakeholder engagement. The evidence and technology that supports this plan is used from the World Health Organization, or WHO, D.C. Department of Health. We will incorporate electronic health records in social media and digital campaigns. The value of evidence from the WHO is the global perspectives and guidelines that emphasize integrated health services and universal health coverage. D.C. DOH presents more localized data specific to Washington, D.C., with data that is crucial for understanding the unique challenges within the community. Tailoring plans for specific individuals in the community closes gaps and meets needs within the healthcare system. Electronic health records and social media are vital in addressing the community in ways that can be easily widespread and to assess testing results to keep track of process. That concludes the presentation.