RESEARCH · SCHOOL OF NURSING · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO
International Center for
HIV/AIDS Research and Clinical Training in Nursing
Leadership
William L. Holzemer, RN, PhD, FAAN, Director
Carmen Portillo, RN, PhD, FAAN, Associate Director
Carol Dawson Rose, RN, PhD, Co-Director
Marta Rivero, RN, DNS, Affiliated Faculty, University of Puerto Rico
Overview
The International Center for HIV/AIDS Research and Clinical Training in Nursing is an inter-departmental and multi-disciplinary effort, committed to research, education, and care of persons with HIV.
The Center, founded in 1991, focuses upon nursing care for people at risk for and infected with HIV across all health care and community settings. In 1994, it became recognized as the Nursing component of the UCSF AIDS Clinical Research Center. That same year, it became affiliated with the Pacific AIDS Education Training Centers (Ryan White Care Act).
The Center is related to I-TECH, International Training and Education Center on HIV, is affiliated with the World Health Organization's Collaborating Centers, and is a component of the UCSF AIDS Research Institute (ARI).
The mission of the Center is to enhance optimal health and quality of care for people living with, at risk for and affected by HIV/AIDS through nursing leadership in research, clinical practice and education.
Research
The International Center for HIV/AIDS Research and Clinical Training in Nursing conducts domestic and international research related to HIV/AIDS and nursing. The Center strives to work collaboratively, not only within the Center itself, but also with other organizations and researchers around the world. Collaboration in research enhances both the scope and quality of the work.
Major research initiatives of the Center include the following:
Nursing Research Center on HIV/AIDS Health Disparities, P20NR008359 (Holzemer, PI). The Nursing Research Center on HIV/AIDS Health Disparities is a collaborative five-year project between the University of Puerto Rico (Rivero, PI) and the UCSF School of Nursing. The goal is to enhance the knowledge base for nursing care in order to improve the quality of lives of people living with and affected by HIV disease and to enhance minority nurse investigators working in HIV/AIDS research. Each year, the Center funds two to four new one-year pilot studies. In order to conduct effective research while also mentoring new investigators, each pilot study is led by two investigators, one from each university. Currently, eight pilot studies are underway, addressing a range of issues such as the HIV symptom experience of Latina women, HIV care providers' perceptions of women's adherence to HIV medications, stigma, and genetic determinants of lipodystrophy in HIV-positive patients. The Center consists of three Cores, each of which is led by a faculty member from each university: Administrative and Scientific Core (William Holzemer of UCSF and Marta Rivero of UPR); Research Mentoring and Support Core (Geraldine Padilla of UCSF and Yadira Regueira of UPR); and the Pilot Feasibility Research Core (Carmen Portillo of UCSF and María Castro of UPR). The Project Directors are Yvette Cuca (UCSF) and Ricardo Vargas-Molina (UPR).
Perceived HIV/AIDS Stigma: A Multinational Study,
R01 TW006395 (Holzemer, PI)
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), the University of KwaZulu Natal, and a group of nurse researchers in southern Africa have received funding from the National Institutes of Health's Fogarty International Center to study HIV/AIDS and stigma (Holzemer, PI; Uys, Co-PI). AIDS stigma and discrimination continue to affect those living with and affected by HIV disease and their health care providers, particularly in southern Africa where the burden of AIDS is so significant. Many health care workers in this region have come to the conclusion that unless stigma is conquered, the illness will not be defeated. This five-year collaborative project links researchers in Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland, and Tanzania, along with the Southern African AIDS Network of Nurses and Midwives (SANNAM), with UCSF and the University of Natal to:
Develop and validate two linguistically and culturally appropriate measures of perceived HIV/AIDS stigma appropriate for person living with HIV/AIDS and nurses;
Test a model, using longitudinal data, of how stigma affects, and is affected by (2a) quality of health care and quality of life for persons living with HIV/AIDS and (2b) quality of work life and quality of life for nurses; and
Utilize community-based participatory research methods to intervene at a community level with five national nurses associations and to track the impact of the community-level events on the perceived stigma of nurse members of those associations.
In March 2005, representatives from all of the sites were Scholars in Residence at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Study and Conference Center in Bellagio, Italy.
UCSF International HIV/AIDS Nursing Research Network
The UCSF International HIV/AIDS Nursing Research Network (The Network) conducts collaborative research with the goal of positively influencing quality of care and patient outcomes across the spectrum of HIV disease. The Network has conducted three multi-site studies on HIV/AIDS related to adherence, symptom management, and self-care symptom management. Now in its tenth year, the Network is beginning work on its fourth study, The Efficacy of the HIV/AIDS Symptom Management Manual, which will evaluate the efficacy of The HIV/AIDS Symptom Management Manual for increasing self-care behaviors, controlling symptoms, improving medication adherence, increasing engagement with health care providers and improving quality of life. The study is a repeated measures, randomized controlled trial of an intervention (use of The Manual). Over 30 sites from countries around the world are participating in the study: Botswana, Brazil, Colombia, Jordan, Kenya, Lesotho, Norway, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Zambia, and the United States (including Puerto Rico).
Clinical Training
The International Center for HIV/AIDS Research and Clinical Training in Nursing guides training on HIV/AIDS within the School of Nursing. Students interested in HIV/AIDS care can either enter the HIV/AIDS sub-specialty program, or obtain an HIV/AIDS minor along with another specialty degree. Courses address issues such as epidemiological concepts, public health policies, clinical pharmacology, HIV/AIDS chronic illness care, integrated care and socio-cultural issues. Students also have the opportunity to take advanced practice seminars that allow them to enhance their clinical problem-solving abilities through case study analyses with an interdisciplinary team of HIV/AIDS experts. HIV/AIDS training at the UCSF School of Nursing taps into unique UCSF and San Francisco resources, and links students with nationally and internationally recognized HIV/AIDS experts.
Specific training programs include the following:
HIV Advanced Practice Nurse Education, D09HP03285, HRSA (Portillo, PD)
The UCSF School of Nursing, Department of Community Health Systems offers an advanced practice nursing program in HIV/AIDS care, supported by a three-year training grant from the Division of Nursing, Bureau of Health Professions, HRSA. This program offers an HIV/AIDS curriculum linked to residencies with nationally and internationally recognized HIV/AIDS experts. Students enrolled in the program become expert HIV/AIDS clinicians, leaders in the planning of HIV/AIDS care services, or specialists in complex HIV/AIDS case management.
Students interested in HIV/AIDS have three educational options.
First, all School of Nursing students may enroll in HIV/AIDS specialty courses to enhance their overall coursework.
Second, students may pursue the
HIV/AIDS Nursing Minor,
which requires completion of nine units in HIV/AIDS coursework.
Third, students may enroll in the HIV Advanced Practice Nurse Education program,
which includes clinical training.
The requirements include all of the coursework for the HIV/AIDS Nursing Minor, as well as two clinical seminars in HIV/AIDS care settings (N242.01 and N242.02).
The Adult Nurse Practitioner (ANP) and Advanced Community Health and International Nursing (ACHIN) specialty programs are designed to accommodate these clinic residencies.
The HIV/AIDS curriculum in the School of Nursing includes:
N 242A HIV/AIDS: An Overview Provides an overview of the AIDS epidemic with a focus on related epidemiological concepts, public health policies, health care disparities, and psychosocial issues.
N 242B HIV/AIDS Clinical Pharmacology Provides an overview of HIV-specific pharmacology.
N 242C Population-based HIV/AIDS Chronic Illness Care Will introduce chronic illness models of care and their application to the health care delivery system.
N 242D HIV/AIDS Integrated Care Provides an opportunity to examine and discuss evidence based care for persons with HIV/AIDS.
Soc. 230 Sociocultural Issues in AIDS Provides an overview of the history and social psychology of AIDS in relation to health, illness, disease, and death.
N 242.01 HIV/AIDS Seminar
N 242.02 HIV/AIDS Seminar Provide an opportunity for students to enhance their clinical problem-solving abilities through case study analyses with an interdisciplinary team of HIV/AIDS experts who are caring for persons with HIV/AIDS.
Program Assistant: Henry Lewis (henry.lewis@nursing.ucsf.edu)
HIV/AIDS Nursing Minor
Department of Community Health Systems
UCSF School of Nursing, Box 0608
San Francisco, CA 94143-0608 Telephone: (415) 502-7785 Fax: (415) 476-6042
Institutional Training Grant, HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care, NIH T32 NR07081, 1995-2006 (Holzemer, PD) (we have a no cost extension for one year)
The research themes of this institutional training grant have focused upon symptom assessment, symptom management, adherence, self-care, and quality of life for those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. The training grant supports four pre-doctoral fellowships and two post-doctoral fellowships.
Pacific AIDS Education Training Centers (PAETC)
The Pacific AIDS Education and Training Center (PAETC) provides AIDS-related training, education and information services to health care providers. PAETC has 15 local sites in California, Arizona, Hawaii, and Nevada that provide services in their local region. PAETC is an affiliate of the University of California, San Francisco AIDS Research Institute, and is funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration under the Ryan White CARE Act.
For more information on PAETC, please contact:
International Training and Education Center on HIV (I-TECH)
The International Training and Education Center on HIV (I-TECH) is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. I-TECH is a joint international AIDS education and training program with the University of Washington.
For more information on I-TECH, please contact:
For more information about the
UCSF International Center for HIV/AIDS Research and Clinical Training in Nursing,
including publications and information on projects and programs, please visit our web site,
http://www.aidsnursingucsf.org
[http://www.ucsf.edu/aidsnursing], or contact:
