UCP Performance Report FY18Q4

The project aimed to strengthen the capacity of community-based organizations (CBOs) for provision of key population-led health services (KPLHS) in 13 priority provinces supported by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). During the report period, TRCARC and its partners developed two training curricula, PrEP dispensing and ART dispensing, and organized a training of trainers (TOT) in July to equip community health worker (CHW) trainers with the latest knowledge and skills on PrEP and ART dispensing. The TOT course was attended by 14 trainers from TRCARC, Mplus, RSAT, and SWING, who were equipped with the latest knowledge and skills on PrEP and ART dispensing. The training methodology included mini-lecture and practical activities to provide key knowledge and counseling skills on PrEP and ART, and drug supply management. In addition to the TOT course, TRCARC and its partners trained 31 CHWs in PrEP and ART dispensing in early August and 33 CHWs on Basic HIV and related diseases in early September. Feedback and coaching were provided to the trainers to improve their training skills for future trainings. The trained facilitators from the TOT courses also provided technical assistance (TA) on differentiated service delivery (DSD) for healthcare providers from provincial hospitals and public health promoting hospitals at Nakornping Hospital, Chiang Mai. The USAID Community Partnership held the third 'training and certification committee' meeting in August to review the training programs, course descriptions, and assessment process for awarding the training certificates. The committee recommended the grouping of the training curricula into three training programs: 1) HIV Prevention, Referral and Care; 2) HIV and STI Screening and Testing; and 3) STI Prevention, Referral and Care. The committee also provided suggestions to improve the course descriptions and approved the proposed assessment process for the trainees who meet the criteria for certification. Through an informal taskforce, the Project continued to work closely with key policy actors and stakeholders on legalization of CHWs to deliver KPLHS, and development of quality standards for HIV service delivery, and competencies of CHWs and healthcare providers. All parties involved agreed that it is necessary to revise the existing regulation or establish a new one that will endorse CBOs and CHWs to legally provide KPLHS, and develop quality standards for services provided to KPs. The taskforce has already reviewed the draft quality standards for HIV service delivery that are based on Reach-Recruit-Test-Treat-Retain (RRTTR). The Project also promoted and branded the TA platform as well as its products/services through its Facebook fan-page entitled "Pro-Partnership Training Program". As part of branding and marketing, the TA platform provided TA on DSD for healthcare providers from provincial hospitals and public health promoting hospitals at Nakornping Hospital, Chiang Mai. The trained facilitators from the TOT courses also provided TA on gender sensitivity, PrEP services for KPs to healthcare providers in Mahasarakham Hospital, and generated the first payment for the TA service. The program achievements are presented by each strategic objective (SO) as follows: SO1: To build the capacity of CBOs to provide high-quality KPLHS. TRCARC and its partners continued to work on building capacity of CHWs to enable them to provide quality KPLHS. In Q3/FY18, three training curricula (gender sensitivity, basic knowledge on HIV and other related diseases, and HIV counselling) were pilot-tested in the TOT and training for CHWs. The curricula are ready for final review and approval by external readers. In Q4/FY18, two training curricula (ART dispensing, and PrEP dispensing) were developed and pilot-tested during the TOT courses. The module for STI treatment dispensing is in the development stage and is expected to be ready for pilot-testing by Q1/FY19. The development of the online training platform is in process, and the platform will be launched in Q2/FY19. The Project also organized three training courses: TOT on PrEP dispensing and ART dispensing (July 10-13, 2018), PrEP and ART dispensing training for CHWs (August 6-9, 2018), and Basic HIV and related diseases training (September 4-7, 2018). The results of the reactive training evaluation using a 4-point Likert scale revealed that the participants were highly satisfied with the training. The result of the learning evaluation showed that the trainees had good knowledge on PrEP and ART before the training, and there was a significant increase in knowledge after the training. Moreover, 93.5% of the trainees passed the post-test at 80% score. The participants also provided feedback to finalize