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Date of Report: 11/01/2003
Source: New York / New Jersey AETC
To increase HIV testing of youth, the Adolescent AIDS Program (AAP) at Montefiore Medical Center in New York initiated the ACTS program. The ACTS protocol incorporates best medical practices in four steps:
Assess, Counsel, Test and Support
The foundation of the program is to inform providers that HIV counseling and testing is now a standard of care for all sexually active youth and to provide a simpler HIV counseling and testing protocol. Based on a qualitative study of 55 healthcare providers, the AAP program learned that providers were not offering HIV counseling and testing routinely because they:
 | underestimate or do not assess their patient's risk
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| find the counseling and testing process too complicated and time-consuming
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| do not think they are qualified to deliver HIV counseling
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They also learned that the providers were eager for training and materials that would facilitate their involvement. AAP's solution was to provide straightforward steps for effective HIV information sharing, counseling and testing, and experiential tools to implement each step.
Elements of the ACTS protocol include: meeting with clinic administrators and staff to address the challenges and solutions to implementing counseling and testing, providing a Toolkit for ACTS Implementation, Patient Risk Evaluation screening form, laminated pocket reference card on ACTS steps, and an ACTS manual. The manual provides detailed information including sample scripts for pre-test and post-test counseling, prevention plan materials, and resources for additional information. A handy pocket guide can be kept with the healthcare provider as they see patients until the ACTS protocol becomes second nature. ACTS provides scripts to help cover the key points needed to assess patient risk, and to offer the information needed by the patient to make a decision about whether to be tested.
After hearing from clinicians around the country of the need for a model that facilitates routine HIV counseling and testing among all at-risk populations, the AAP expanded the content of ACTS to ensure its usefulness to all providers and their patients. For more information about the ACTS project and to access the tools, go to their website at www.adolescentaids.org
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