BUSINESS WIRE - 44 Montgomery St, 39th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94104; Tel: (415) 986-4422; FAX: (415) 788-5335 - Thursday, 13 November 1997.
The program will highlight some of the changes that have taken place at Kaiser Permanente since the first town hall meeting a year ago, including medical care and prevention efforts. It takes place Tuesday, Nov. 18 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Summit Health Education Center, 400 Hawthorne Ave., Oakland.
"At the last town hall meeting there were a number of controversial issues," said Joe DiMilia, HIV coordinator and health educator at Kaiser-Permanente in Oakland. "Activists were concerned and angry that we weren't measuring viral load or routinely prescribing human growth hormone for the AIDS-related wasting, even before they were FDA-approved. We were also knocked for not having enough identified AIDS specialists to care for people with HIV."
All that has changed, however. After the International AIDS Society published its guidelines for using and interpreting viral load testing -- before it was approved by the FDA -- Kaiser began using the test as a more accurate way to measure patients' health status. Human growth hormone is now prescribed for wasting, and Kaiser Permanente has changed its policy on HIV care, moving from a system where medical care for AIDS patients was shared by all physicians to a model in which specialists provide testing, health advice, and monitoring.
"We now have 60 HIV subspecialists in Northern California; our goal is 80," said Michael Allerton, HIV regional operations policy coordinator for Kaiser Permanente. "Now, 94 percent of all of our HIV patients are seen by physicians with experience in HIV, and all of our patients are referred to specialists if the need arises."
Kaiser Permanente has also made efforts to communicate with the AIDS community and to monitor complaints about Kaiser health care. "We've developed a formalized way of meeting with people with HIV. So we now have member advisory meetings, attended by Kaiser Permanente personnel and Kaiser members with AIDS, that meet monthly, every other month or quarterly in San Francisco, Oakland and the Diablo Valley," Allerton said. "We want to deal with issues before they become a problem."
"A year ago, there simply was no standard of care. People could get good care from one physician and mediocre care from another," said David Mahon, a San Francisco chiropractor and member of the People With AIDS Coalition. "It was very frustrating. Now Kaiser Permanente has designated doctors as specialists and written out their principles for minimal standards of care for people with AIDS. Overall, we're pleased with the changes."
Kaiser Permanente has also made important strides in prevention efforts. Its Educational Theatre Program has reached 2 million people in Northern California. Through the theatre program, a troupe of actors puts on plays about body image, sexuality and AIDS in community centers, schools, and even local museums. Three different plays are aimed at children of different ages. The award-winning "Secrets" play, for instance, aimed at children in 9th through 12th grade, deals with the pressure put on teenagers to have sex. It also reveals life-saving prevention tactics by telling the story of one boy with HIV.
Another innovative program is the Positive Self-Management Program (or PSMP), a self-care class for people living with HIV. Developed at Stanford in 1994, PSMP is based on self-care programs that have proven health outcomes for chronic disease sufferers. Brought to Kaiser Permanente in 1995 by DiMilia and Janet Tobacman, HIV educator at San Francisco at the time, PSMP is now offered in Santa Clara, Sacramento, Oakland and San Francisco.
"We have collected data that proves that these classes give people a healthier outlook and increased self-confidence about coping with HIV," said Tobacman, who coordinated the pilot study at Kaiser Permanente and hopes to present the findings at next year's World AIDS Conference in Geneva, along with co-investigators DiMilia and Dr. Allen Gifford, currently with UCSD.
"What we want to do at this town hall meeting is to let people know that there are innovative, high quality programs at Kaiser Permanente, in both prevention and care. But more importantly, we want to put a face on that care, so others will know that the people of Kaiser Permanente are here to help," DiMilia said.
The California Division of Kaiser Permanente is a prepaid, health maintenance organization (HMO) serving more than 5.3 million members throughout the state. The Division has over 7,000 physicians and over 55,000 employees. It is organized into 12 service areas which are served by 26 major medical centers.
--30--gdr/sf*
CONTACT: Kaiser Permanente News Bureau Tom Debley/Lila Petersen/Laura Rohde, 510/987-3900
Today's News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internet with Hyperlinks to your home page. URL: http://www.businesswire.com
Copyright (c) 1997/BUSINESS WIRE. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, Business Wire, 1185 Avenue of the Americas, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10036; Tel: (212) 575-8822; FAX: (212) 575-1854.
971113
BW971106
Copyright © 1997 - Business Wire. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Business Wire, Permissions Desk, Business Wire, 1185 Avenue of the Americas, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10036; Tel: (212) 575-8822; FAX: (212) 575-1854. http://www.businesswire.com.
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Pacific Life Foundation and donations from users like you.
Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1997. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 1997. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .