?HELP? HIV/AIDS Education for Lithuania Program: Multidisciplinary Case Management Training and Implementation Program, Vilnius

Issues: While HIV/AIDS care has improved significantly for European patients, the Baltic States have faced a surge in HIV cases since 1997, predominantlyamong IDUs, prisoners, and other marginalized individuals. Coordination of services across sectors responding to the complex needs of the patients is poor dueto the fragmentation of and disconnect between the various levels and disciplines of medical and psychosocial support services.Description: Project HOPE and the Lithuanian AIDS Center led a 3 year program to build the capacity of local HIV/AIDS health and psychosocial careproviders via multidisciplinary networks of medical, nursing and social care professionals to enhance communication and coordination across the boundaries ofhealth and social institutions, governmental and non-governmental sector to improve the quality of life of PLWHA in Lithuania.Participants in multidisciplinary teams were guided through an 80 hour modular program to learn how to design, build and manage effective care networksorganized around case management of the complex needs of PLWHA. 17 selected participants graduated as trainers from an intensive training course todisperse the program throughout Lithuania. Overall 231 health and social workers completed training in 2006-2008 developing 39 unique team projects,addressing specific issues ranging from early case finding to continuity of care and PLWHA support benefiting the approximately 1000 PLWHA of Lithuania.Lessons learned: Involvement of policy makers, health care, and social care practitioners in multidisciplinary teams has proven instrumental in thedevelopment and implementation of care networks. The residential setting enabled evening sessions to further broaden participant's understanding of currentHIV/AIDS issues.Next steps: Program expansion to countries with severe epidemic is desirable, particularly to neighboring countries which share similar historical,socioeconomic and epidemiological profile and patterns.