CHICAGO, IL ( August 22, 2017 ) Center on Halsted has been awarded a two-year $200,000 grant from ViiV Healthcare's Positive Action for Youth program to help improve the lives of young people living with HIV. Center on Halsted is set to pilot three six-week drop-in sessions for youth living with HIV aged 1324. The program will train Youth Health Promoters to develop and manage the drop-in sessions, which will focus on helping youth develop the self-management skills needed to engage and stay in long-term adult care.
Center on Halsted's Youth Program has been supporting LGBTQ youth living with HIV for more than 10 years and is excited to expand its mentorship programs with the Positive Action for Youth grant. Recent research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that youth living with HIV in the U.S. have gaps in care due to a lack of knowledge and skills to maneuver through the HIV care continuum, where it is estimated that approximately one-third of youth did not link to care within one month of HIV diagnosis is the lowest rate for any age group.'
"Center on Halsted is committed to expanding support for our LGBTQ youth of Chicagoland that remain disproportionately impacted by HIV. We have been providing Youth Programs focused on mentorship since 1978, when we were founded as Gay Horizons", shared Modesto Tico Valle, CEO, Center on Halsted. He added, "The grant we received from Viiv Healthcare's Positive Action for Youth program will have a long-term impact for our community." Ashley Mahoney, senior manager, External Affairs, and Positive Action for Youth program lead, ViiV Healthcare shared, "We are proud to support organizations dedicating programs for young people living with HIV and look forward to seeing their outcomes over the next two years."
Mentorship programs may help youth ( as young as 13 years ) begin to develop the skills including health literacy, confidence and self-efficacy needed to successfully manage their own healthcare as adults.[1] [2] Center on Halsted's Youth Program, along with ViiV Healthcare, persists with its dedication to mentor successful outcomes for LGBTQ youth living with HIV.
Learn more about Center on Halsted's Youth Program at: http://www.centeronhalsted.org/youth.html
ABOUT CENTER ON HALSTED
Center on Halsted is the most comprehensive community center in the Midwestern United States dedicated to building and strengthening the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer ( LGBTQ ) community. Directly servicing and impacting the lives of approximately 45,000 LGBTQ individuals a year, more than 1,400 community members of all ages walk through the doors every day to participate in the diverse public programs and social services. Center on Halsted offers youth and senior programming, behavior health services, HIV testing, anti-violence work, and educational programming including cooking and GED classes. For every dollar donated to Center on Halsted, nearly 75 cents are spent directly on providing these community programs and services. Additionally, thousands of individuals join us in basketball, volleyball, hockey, performance, art, and music. Center on Halsted is located in the heart of Chicago's Lakeview Neighborhood. For more information, visit www.centeronhalsted.org or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
ABOUT POSITIVE ACTION
Positive Action was created in 1992 as the first pharmaceutical company program to support communities affected by HIV and AIDS. ViiV Healthcare is proud to continue the Positive Action program and its valuable work with these communities. Positive Action works with those communities most vulnerable to HIV disease, including girls and women, sex workers, gay men, MSM, transgender people, injecting drug users ( IDU ), the homeless, the incarcerated and youth. Our projects range across education, prevention, care and treatment-related activity such as treatment literacy and community/clinical engagement.
ABOUT ViiV HEALTHCARE
ViiV Healthcare is a global specialist HIV company established in November 2009 by GlaxoSmithKline ( LSE: GSK ) and Pfizer ( NYSE: PFE ) dedicated to delivering advances in treatment and care for people living with HIV and for people who are at risk of becoming infected with HIV. Shionogi joined in October 2012. The company's aim is to take a deeper and broader interest in HIV/AIDS than any company has done before and take a new approach to deliver effective and innovative medicines for HIV treatment and prevention as well as support communities affected by HIV. For more information on the company, its management, portfolio, pipeline and commitment, please visit www.viivhealthcare.com .
REFERENCES
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HIV Among Youth. Last updated April 7, 2017. Accessed June 14, 2017. Available at: www.cdc.gov/hiv/group/age/youth/index.html .
2. Heisler M. Building peer support programs to manage chronic disease: seven models for success. www.chcf.org/~/media/MEDIA%20LIBRARY%20Files/PDF/PDF%20B/PDF%20BuildingPeerSupportPrograms.pdf. Published December 2006. Accessed June 14, 2017.
3. Greifinger R; National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors. Improving engagement and retention in adult care settings for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning ( LGBTQ ) youth living with HIV. www.nastad.org/sites/default/files/Guide-LGBTQ-for-Adult-Healthcare-Providers-05-2012.pdf. Published May 2012. Accessed June 14, 2017.