Nurses decrease barriers to health care by "hyperlinking" multiple-diagnosed women living with HIV/AIDS into care. NLM AIDSLINE Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

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Nurses decrease barriers to health care by "hyperlinking" multiple-diagnosed women living with HIV/AIDS into care.

J Assoc Nurses AIDS Care. 1999 Mar-Apr;10(2):55-65. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/99164804
Andersen MD; Smereck GA; Hockman EM; Ross DJ; Ground KJ; Well-Being Institute, USA.

Abstract: The Well-Being Institute (WBI), a community-based nursing organization in Detroit, Michigan, has developed and put into practice innovative intervention and service delivery models to assist HIV-positive women who have a history of substance abuse and mental illness. These multiple-diagnosed women are known to have special problems and barriers to accessing health care. The service delivery model is based on "hyperlinking" women into hard-to-get health care appointment slots through nurses' personal contacts in health care clinics. The intervention model is the personalized nursing LIGHT model. This article describes the service delivery and intervention models and discusses outcomes of the WBI Women's Intervention Program in practice. The program locates HIV-positive, substance-abusing women; enrolls them in primary medical and mental health care; and helps retain them in health care. The results of the model in practice demonstrate its success in hyperlinking hard-to-reach and hard-to-serve HIV-positive women with health care and other needed services and resources. In addition, these multiple-diagnosed women have shown positive effects with respect to improved sense of well-being and decreased psychosocial distress.
Keywords: JOURNAL ARTICLE Adult Case Management/ORGANIZATION & ADMIN Community Health Nursing/*ORGANIZATION & ADMIN Community-Institutional Relations Delivery of Health Care, Integrated/*ORGANIZATION & ADMIN Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry) Female Health Services Accessibility/*ORGANIZATION & ADMIN Human HIV Infections/*COMPLICATIONS/PSYCHOLOGY/THERAPY Mental Disorders/*COMPLICATIONS/PSYCHOLOGY/THERAPY Michigan Models, Nursing Nursing Evaluation Research Primary Health Care/*ORGANIZATION & ADMIN Program Evaluation Referral and Consultation/ORGANIZATION & ADMIN Substance-Related Disorders/*COMPLICATIONS/PSYCHOLOGY/THERAPY Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. Women's Health Services/*ORGANIZATION & ADMINKWDjournalarticleadultcasemanagement/organization&admincommunityhealthnursing/KWDorganization&admincommunity-institutionalrelationsdeliveryofhealthcare,integrated/KWDorganization&admindiagnosis,dual(psychiatry)femalehealthservicesaccessibility/KWDorganization&adminhumanhivinfections/KWDcomplications/psychology/therapymentaldisorders/KWDcomplications/psychology/therapymichiganmodels,nursingnursingevaluationresearchprimaryhealthcare/KWDorganization&adminprogramevaluationreferralandconsultation/organization&adminsubstance-relateddisorders/KWDcomplications/psychology/therapysupport,uKWDsKWDgov't,pKWDhKWDsKWDwomen'shealthservices/KWDorganization&admin
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