SAN FRANCISCO Bay AREA PROGRAMS

Since 2014, ACRIA’s San Francisco office has conducted research, advocacy, and community engagement work in both the Bay Area and Southern California.

RESEARCH

Our San Francisco Bay office is the West Coast headquarters for ACRIA’s largest research effort, the Research on Older Adults with HIV (ROAH) 2.0 study. ROAH 2.0 is a successor to ACRIA’s formative 2006 Research on Older Adults with HIV study, the first, largest, and most thorough of its kind to examine the experiences and needs of older adults living with HIV. ROAH provided a comprehensive set of data and recommendations in the areas of healthcare, policy, and research. Now, ROAH 2.0 is investigating older adults with HIV across the country, including two sub-studies in the Bay Area: Alameda County and San Francisco. With the support of the San Francisco Department of Aging and Adult Services, San Francisco Department of Public Health, California State Department of Health, and the Gilead Foundation, ACRIA’s San Francisco office is conducting the Bay Area ROAH 2.0 study to examine the unique experiences of older adults with HIV in the region and inform programs and policies to aid this challenged population. As of January 2018, ROAH 2.0 has completed a number of focus groups, piloted the survey, and begun to administer it to older adults living with HIV. 

ADVOCACY AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

In response to issues identified in the ROAH study and at ACRIA-organized town hall meetings, ACRIA works to build community capacity to serve long-term survivors and people who are aging with HIV. ACRIA has developed and implemented a number of training programs focused on service delivery, medical and social service needs, and culturally-sensitive communication when working with these communities. ACRIA provides training in these areas to organizations and providers throughout the Bay Area, including most recently the Alameda County Case Conference Meeting (a regular gathering attended by staff of local AIDS service organizations and clinics) and Clínica Esperanza at Mission Neighborhood Health Clinic (a community-based HIV clinic).

In order to build awareness, positive health outcomes, and increased engagement of people aging with HIV and long-term survivors of HIV, ACRIA partners with a range of AIDS service organizations, community-based groups and advocates, and governmental bodies to conduct outreach and provide targeted guidance on the unique needs of long-term survivors of HIV and people aging with HIV. ACRIA is an active contributing member of the HIV and Aging Workgroup, an advisory body serving the San Francisco Department of Aging and Adult Services’ Long-Term Care Coordinating Council, as well as Bay Area State of Emergency (BASE), a group organized to bring attention and a robust response to the HIV epidemic in black communities. In San Francisco, we regularly organize and contribute to town hall meetings; address the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and other governmental bodies to advocate for the needs of long-term survivors of HIV; and strategize with other HIV advocacy organizations around effecting positive change.

In March 2017, ACRIA presented and participated in a panel discussion at the Bay Area Annual HIV Health Disparities Symposium sponsored by the University of California, San Francisco and the University of California, Berkeley on community research on HIV health disparities. ACRIA also regularly organizes and presents in advocacy forums such as A Resilient Generation Looks Ahead: A Community Forum for Long-Term Survivors of HIV and Allies (in July 2017) and Healthy Living as You Age (in September 2017), a half-day event on HIV prevention for older adults. In October 2017, ACRIA discussed conducting research on older adults with HIV and presented recommendations for ethical research to a meeting organized by the University of California, San Francisco’s Center for AIDS Prevention Studies’ Community Advisory Board.

For more information on San Francisco programs, please email give@acria.org or call (415) 617-5712.

PARTNERS AND FUNDERS FOR SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA PROGRAMS include: