The Events in Care Screening Questionnaire (ECSQ): a new tool to identify needs and concerns of people with HIV/AIDS.

The purpose of this paper is to present validation data on the Events in Care Screening Questionnaire (ECSQ), which was designed to identify the needs and concerns of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in nine specific domains: adherence to medical instructions; medical problems; specialty and inpatient hospital care; preventive health care and screening and behavioral health; sexual risk behavior; family planning; psychological symptoms; substance use; and life circumstances and demands. The ECSQ is the anchor for a more comprehensive measure called "The Dynamics of Care," and was administered in the context of a longitudinal study to evaluate New York State's HIV Special Needs Plan (HIV SNP), a Medicaid managed care model for PLWHA. Participants in the study, which began in March 2003 and closed recruitment in January 2007, were NYC PLWHA who were enrolled in either a Medicaid HIV SNP or Fee-For-Service plan. Participants were recruited through HIV SNP enrollment lists, direct on-site recruitment, and fliers. The specific event domains covered in the ECSQ were selected based on the purpose of the HIV SNP and the literature describing the needs and challenges that PLWHA face. Analyses are based on data from 628 study respondents over two times points. Results suggest that the concerns identified by PLWHA were largely consistent with their health care situation, heath status, risk behavior, and personal characteristics. Findings presented here lend support for the construct validity of the ECSQ and demonstrate its value as a starting point for inquiring more fully about the experiences of patients and improving the care they receive.

Beyond satisfaction: using the Dynamics of Care assessment to better understand patients' experiences in care.

BACKGROUND: Patient perceptions of and satisfaction with care have become important indicators of the quality of services and the relationship of services to treatment outcomes. However, assessment of these indicators continues to be plagued by measurement problems, particularly the lack of variance in satisfaction data. In this article, we present a new approach to better capture patient perceptions of experiences in care, the Dynamics of Care (DoC) assessment. It is an in-depth approach to defining and assessing patients' perspectives at different junctures in care, including their decisions about whether and where to seek care, the barriers encountered, and the treatments and services received. METHODS: The purpose of this article is to describe, validate, and discuss the benefits and limitations of the DoC, which was administered as part of a longitudinal study to evaluate the New York State HIV Special Needs Plan (SNP), a Medicaid managed care model for people living with HIV/AIDS. Data are from 426 study respondents across two time points. RESULTS: The results demonstrate the validity and value of the DoC. Help seeking decisions and satisfaction with care appear to be situation-specific, rather than person-specific. However, barriers to care appear to be more cross-situational for respondents, and may be associated with clients' living situations or care arrangements. Inventories in this assessment that were designed to identify potential deterrents to help seeking and difficulties encountered in care demonstrated clear principal component structures, and helped to explain satisfaction with care. The problem resolution index was found to be independent from satisfaction with care and the data were more normally distributed. DoC data were also associated with subsequent utilization and change in quality of life. CONCLUSION: The DoC was designed to be a flexible, integrated measure to determine individuals' salient service needs, help seeking and experiences in care. One of the many strengths of the assessment is its focus on specific problems in context, thus providing a more sensitive and informative way to understand processes in care from the patient's perspective. This approach can be used to direct new programs and resources to the patients and situations that require them.

Promoting HCV treatment completion for prison inmates: New York State's hepatitis C continuity program.

This article describes the development of a statewide program providing continuity of hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment to prisoners upon release to the community. We discussed length of stay as a barrier to treatment with key collaborators; developed protocols, a referral process, and forms; mobilized staff; recruited heath-care facilities to accept referrals; and provided short-term access to HCV medications for inmates upon release. The Hepatitis C Continuity Program, including 70 prisons and 21 health-care facilities, is a resource for as many as 130 inmates eligible to start treatment annually. Health-care facilities provide fairly convenient access to 87.1% of releasees, and 100% offer integrated HCV-human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome care. As of March 2006, 24 inmates had been enrolled. The program was replicated in the New York City Rikers Island jail. The program is operational statewide, referrals sometimes require priority attention, and data collection and other details are still being addressed.

Putting evidence into practice: evidence-based interventions for fatigue during and following cancer and its treatment.

Cancer-related fatigue has a significant impact on patients' physical and psychosocial functioning, symptom distress, and quality of life, yet it remains under-recognized and undertreated. The Oncology Nursing Society's Putting Evidence Into Practice initiative sought to improve patient outcomes relative to this important problem by critically examining and summarizing the evidence base for interventions to prevent and manage fatigue during and following treatment. This article critically reviews and summarizes the available empirical evidence regarding interventions for cancer-related fatigue. In addition to offering patients and clinicians a tool to facilitate effective management of the distressing symptom, this evidence-based review identifies gaps in knowledge and research opportunities.