Business Wire - Monday, November 30, 1998
Kaiser Permanente's announcement coincides with World AIDS Day, which is observed annually on December 1st to strengthen the global effort to face the challenges of the AIDS epidemic.
Kaiser Permanente's Positive Self-Management Workshop, a series of six classes led by a specially trained, HIV-positive person, will be held in both Oakland and Richmond in partnership with community-based organizations beginning in February. The program, which will be repeated during the year, will also be provided with community partners in three other locations Sacramento, San Francisco and Santa Clara. The workshops are open to Kaiser Permanente members and the general public.
"We have a history of being good community citizens in areas where we practice," said Michael Allerton, HIV Operations Policy Coordinator for Kaiser Permanente. "With the newly declared public health state of emergency in Alameda County, this crisis is a major concern."
The two-and-one-half-hour sessions will provide people with HIV or AIDS practical skills for taking care of themselves; familiarity with community resources; and information and advice on how to ease the daily difficulties of living with this difficult disease.
The workshops have proven their effectiveness, having been offered at Kaiser Permanente medical centers for some time. Now, the organization is sharing its knowledge and experience, reaching out beyond Kaiser Permanente doors and out into the community.
Reaching out with the workshop is another step in Kaiser Permanente's long-term commitment to preventing HIV infection and meeting the needs of people with HIV/AIDS.
"This is a proven program that improves people's health and empowers them," said Joe DiMilia, HIV coordinator in the Health Education Department at Kaiser Permanente's Oakland Medical Center.
"People who take this class are more confident, healthier and live less symptom-filled lives. They're better able to manage their symptoms and less likely to be hospitalized or to have acute episodes with HIV," DiMilia said.
The announcement of the outreach effort comes shortly after the Alameda County Board of Supervisors declared a public health emergency because HIV and AIDS are spreading disproportionately among African American men, women and adolescents. The County found that African Americans were five times more likely to get the disease than whites or Latinos.
"These workshops are a powerful tool for the communities we serve," said Janet Tobacman, Kaiser Permanente's HIV Education Coordinator for Northern California.
"They are a valuable component of comprehensive health care and a practical response to the current state of emergency," said Tobacman.
By taking the workshop into the hardest-hit communities' doorsteps, Kaiser is making it more convenient for members -- as well as their friends, family and neighbors -- to participate. Kaiser Permanente is now finalizing partnership agreements for the program with community organizations in Oakland and Richmond.
The self-management workshop is one of many initiatives Kaiser Permanente has in place both for preventing and managing this disease. Other effective programs include:
-- Kaiser Permanente's award-winning Educational Theater Program has performed an interactive play called "Secrets" to high school students 125,000 in Alameda County and 1.5 million statewide -- educating them about HIV and how to prevent infection through abstinence and safe sex practices, such as the use of condoms.
-- As a result of a concerted effort to increase HIV antibody testing, an impressive 80 percent of pregnant women receiving prenatal care at Kaiser Permanente in Northern California are voluntarily taking the test enabling those infected with the virus to take steps to help prevent its spread to their babies and to improve their own health. During the first prenatal visit, a Kaiser Permanente video explains that many women don't know they are at risk and thus everyone should be tested. Also, Kaiser Permanente health care professionals routinely recommend the test to pregnant women.
-- Kaiser Permanente has supported needle exchange legislation as a means to reduce the spread of the disease through intravenous drug use.
-- Kaiser Permanente is a corporate sponsors for the annual Gay and Lesbian Prom open to all young adults, held annually in Hayward. "We see this as public health prevention," Allerton said. "It's a great place to educate teens and promote safer sex."
Kaiser Permanente, California, is a prepaid, group practice health maintenance organization (HMO) serving more than 5.5 million members throughout the state. More than 7,000 Permanente Medical Group physicians in both The Permanente Medical Group (TPMG) in Northern California and the Southern California Permanente Medical Group (SCPMG), as well as 55,300 Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals employees, provide care to Health Plan members. There are 27 major medical centers organized into 12 service areas throughout California.
CONTACT: Kaiser Permanente News Bureau Ann Mosher, 510/987-3900
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