Jurisdictional Coordination of Integrated HIV Prevention and Patient Care Planning and Implementation

Abstract

Jacksonville, Florida, provides services to persons living with the HIV. A federal call for integrated HIV prevention and treatment was published on June 19, 2015. This study unveils the principles that guided the local response to that call. Service providers have not systematically engaged in strategic planning for system improvement, the absence of which defines the boundaries and properties of the service system. Integration requires a unifying strategy as it draws leaders from their respective silos. Directed leadership, community-based participatory research, and action research provided a science-based framework for integration. Quantitatively, one-third of the planning implementation journey has elapsed, and 46% of the 75 planned activities have either reached fulfillment or are ongoing. Another one-fourth is in progress and slightly more than one-fourth (28%) are pending. Qualitatively, this study recorded 7 system-level changes. Progress to date is a harbinger of future system-level changes.