Special projects of national significance - cooperative agreements - JSI research & training institute, INC. (JSI) is pleased to respond to funding opportunity hrsa-22-030, telehealth strategies to…

Special projects of national significance - cooperative agreements - JSI research & training institute, INC. (JSI) is pleased to respond to funding opportunity hrsa-22-030, telehealth strategies to maximize HIV care. JSI brings more than 40 years of experience providing technical assistance (TA) and evaluation expertise to improve the health and well-being of people and communities around the world. For the past 30 years, JSI has worked with the health resources and services administration (hrsa) HIV/aids bureau (HAB) and ryan white HIV/aids program (rwhap) recipients, subrecipients, and partners to improve health systems and outcomes for people with HIV. For more than a decade, we have also worked with safety-net providers to advance telehealth models that improve access to care and demonstrate effective, equitable, and scalable implementation strategies. Our methodology embodies the HAB implementation science principle of "equifinality"-expecting that each site will "take a unique path." we will provide tailored TA to each subawardee to identify, implement, refine, evaluate, and document sustainable, equitable, and inclusive telehealth strategies for utilization in the rwhap, and facilitate cross-site learning to build foundational knowledge, share lessons learned, troubleshoot challenges, identify common themes and core elements for effective telehealth interventions, and strategize for sustainability. JSI will work with the five subawardees, identified via a competitive process, to evaluate selected telehealth strategies and develop telehealth strategy profiles structured for submission to the rwhap best practices compilation. To support increased utilization across the rwhap, we will disseminate findings and tools as they are available. Efforts will focus on the following priority populations, selected for the unique considerations associated with identifying and implementing effective telehealth strategies to meet diverse and complex needs, and to address persistent disparities in HIV outcomes: people with HIV from racial and ethnic minority communities, who have limited english proficiency, and/or who are aging. The project team reflects our commitment to leveraging resources and knowledge from HIV and telehealth, and using implementation science to guide TA and evaluation efforts. The team includes staff with lived experience, expertise working with the identified priority populations, and who prioritize cultural humility and responsiveness to the unique needs of rwhap-funded programs and the populations they serve. From our experience implementing multi-site projects, we know the importance of expert coordination. Each subawardee will have a designated site coordinator to oversee and monitor all activities, including subaward management and reporting. JSI understands the critical and timely importance of this project in the context of the rapid scale-up of telehealth necessitated by the covid-19 pandemic, and the country's efforts to end the HIV epidemic. We see this project as critical to expanding the evidence-base for telehealth strategies that are most effective for improving HIV care outcomes, increasing equity in HIV care, and increasing quality of life for people with HIV.