HIGHLIGHTS
- Stigma creates barriers at multiple levels of the HIV care continuum.
- Abt will provide technical assistance to RWHAP providers to address organizational stigma.
- Materials will be available in 2024.
PROJECT
Ending Stigma through Collaboration And Lifting All To Empowerment (ESCALATE)
The Challenge
HIV-related stigma creates barriers at multiple levels of the care continuum, from diagnosis to engagement to retention in care, leading to demographic and other disparities in care. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) created Ending Stigma through Collaboration And Lifting All To Empowerment (ESCALATE) to engage HIV care providers and people with HIV in addressing inequities in HIV care directly related to HIV-related stigma.
The Approach
ESCALATE works across multiple levels of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Ending the Epidemic in the U.S. initiative and the HIV National Strategic Plan to address internalized and externalized HIV-related stigma within the HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP).
Abt will provide technical assistance—including training materials--to RWHAP providers to build the capacity for organizational change to reduce HIV stigma and other intersectional forms of stigma experienced by the communities that are most deeply impacted by the HIV epidemic.
The Results
Abt’s TA materials for RWHAP recipients and subrecipients will be available on the RHWAP website TargetHIV by the end of the project period in 2024.