Local Needs Assessment of Program Collaboration and Service Integration Among Infectious Disease Prevention Providers for Persons Who Use Drugs Illicitly

Form Approved:

OMB No. 0920-0840

Expiration Date: 01/31/2013

Local Needs Assessment of Program Collaboration and Service Integration Among Infectious Disease Prevention Providers for Persons Who Use Drugs Illicitly

Attachment 1C

Phase II Interview Guide

Public reporting burden of this collection of information is estimated to average 1.5 hours per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden to CDC/ATSDR Reports Clearance Officer; 1600 Clifton Road NE, MS D-74, Atlanta, Georgia 30333; Attn: OMB-PRA (0920-0840)

Phase II- Interview Questions

RESPONDENT BACKGROUND

• What is your position with (the agency name)?

• Can you please tell me a little about what this position entails?

• How long have you worked at (agency)?

• How long have you worked in this field?

CURRENT SERVICES

• What types of services do you provide?

• Who are your primary clients?

  • Age group? GA residents? Income group? Insurance status? Etc?

Next, we would like to ask you about services you provided for people who use drugs.¹ For the purpose of our project, this definition includes people who use illegal drugs, as well as those who use prescription medication for unintended purposes, or abuse alcohol.

PEOPLE WHO USE DRUGS

• Currently, what focus does your program have on drug use?

• How do you engage people you suspect as using drugs but who do not disclose their use during the initial interview?

  • How do you get information about clients’ substance abuse histories? How do you assess their risk for future substance abuse? If there is a form, can you share it with me?

• What types of services do you provide for people who use drugs?

  • What (if any) preventative services (i.e. tests, vaccinations) do you offer?

  • What (if any) referral services (i.e. outside care) do you offer?

  • How are they different than for a non-drug user?

  • In providing services to people who use drugs, do you work from a particular drug treatment model (for example: harm reduction, abstinence-based, faith-based, etc)?

• What types of infectious diseases do you see most among people who use drugs?

SERVICE INTEGRATION

Next we will be asking you to tell us a little more about the integrated services you provide for people who use drugs. By “integrated services,” we mean: the variety of comprehensive health services (including health education interventions, screening, or treatment) that your organization provides by itself in a single location.

• Can you provide examples of how you integrate services?

• How is this type of “one-stop shopping” more effective than having clients visit a different place for every service they require?

• Do you have a case management system in place? Please describe it. What are the benefits of having a case-management system in place when integrating clients into several services?

• In providing integrated services, what are some of the challenges you face?

• Are staff trained about how to provide integrated services? How does this work?

PROGRAM COLLABORATION

Next we will be asking about program collaboration. By this we mean: any type of arrangement (formal or informal) with another organization for patient care (patient referral, lab work, etc.)

• Is your organization currently collaborating services with other organizations?

YES:

• Can you give an example of how your program collaborates with other programs? (For example, if a person comes in for an HIV test and you discover they are currently injecting drugs, how would you go about integrating them with other services?)

• How did this collaboration develop?

• How does this relationship work?

• What types of policies or procedures are in place to maintain this partnership(s)? If there are written agreements, can you please share them with me?

• Can you explain how you go about sharing information with other programs and services? Do you share client information? What information and how?

• How are staff members at this organization involved in this collaboration?

  • What type(s) of training is necessary for this collaboration to work?

• How do you monitor and evaluate your partnership(s) with other organizations?

  • How effective are these partnerships?

• How would you strengthen relationships between programs?

• In what ways, if any, would you like to further collaborate with other organizations in the future?

• How might program collaboration save your organization time and money? How might it cost more?

• What potential challenges do you see in providing collaborated services? How could these be addressed?

• What potential benefits do you see in providing collaborated services?

• Do you know of any other organizations that currently collaborate with others? Please tell me more about these organizations.

• What suggestions do you have for other organizations that may want to collaborate in the future?

NO:

• Has your organization ever tried to partner with other agencies in the past?

  • NO: Why not?

  • YES: Why did it end?

    • What collaboration strategies did you use that were successful?

    • What challenges were present in this collaboration?

• What type(s) of organizations would you be interested in collaborating with?

• What potential challenges do you see in program collaboration? How could these be addressed?

• What potential benefits do you see in program collaboration?

• Do you know of any other organizations that currently collaborate with others? Please tell me more about these organizations.

• Do you have any print materials or documents that you provide to patients who are being referred to other services and/or organizations? Can we have copies?

• Do you have any print materials that you provide to other organizations that you collaborate with? If so, can we have copies?

• Would you be willing to share a copy of a past grant application with us so that we can get an idea of how you formally present your organization to funders?

Do you have anything else you would like to add?

Thank you for your time! We really appreciate you sharing this information with us. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns about what we have discussed.

1 In this interview guide, “people who use drugs” (or PWUD) always refers to illicit drug use.

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