SUPPORT PROGRAM COMMITTEE

The good news is that we continue to experience increased participation of PHAs at all levels of the Support Program. The Support Program Committee Retreat served to clarify its role and responsibilities in the revision of its terms of reference. The Support Program Committee's goal is to focus primarily on Program Development and Evaluation.

A special farewell to Support Program Committee members Helen Yuen-Wah Chan, Stephen Chiu, Henry Fanugao, James Grasley, and Kathy Leung who completed their terms. Also, a warm welcome to Patrick L. and Marisa Kan who have just joined the Support Program Committee. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Vice-President of Support, Raymond Fung, as well as the other Support Program Committee members, Roger LaRade, and Tony M. for all their hard work these past two years.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank members of the Case Management Team for their guidance and support these many years: Dr. Alan Li, Yvette Perreault, and Dr. Jim Sugiyama.

TREATMENT INFORMATION PROJECT

The lack of Treatment Information in Asian languages often delays access to treatment to Asian PHA's as primary care physicians struggle to explain the benefits, side effects, and need for compliance for the anti-virals. The urgent need, identified by clients and the Support Program Committee, for Treatment Information in Asian languages has resulted in the development of a proposal for a Treatment Information Translation Project which is now in the planning stages. As part of this initiative, ACAS has hired Sue Leba as a 3-month contract Research Assistant who will be responsible for collecting and cataloguing Treatment, Holistic, and Mental Health information in Vietnamese, Chinese, and Filipino. She will also identify gaps in information in these languages and make recommendations for targeted adaptation and translation. A forum to share her findings will be conducted upon completion of this project. Please contact Len for details.

SUPPORT PROGRAM EVALUATION

The Support Program Committee worked to develop an evaluation tool to assess the many aspects of the support program from the Client Social to the Support Volunteer Program. Considering the continuing changes many clients are experiencing, it is timely to reassess their needs of ACAS and its volunteers. After laying the groundwork for the needs assessment, the Support Program Committee identified the benefits to having a professional evaluation developed and conducted. We brought this task as far as our limited collective experience could take it and have been notified that Health Canada's National Health Research and Development Program Canadian Strategy on HIV/AIDS Community-Based Research Program has been initiated with a focus on prevention, care, treatment, and support. We are currently waiting news of the status of this project for ACAS.

FOCUS GROUP

In the meantime, ACAS held a small focus group for Asian PHAs around program evaluation and development. Some initial recommendations include: a need for better promotion of services, a retreat for PHAs, holistic therapy services, volunteer buddies for activities like working out at the gym or meditation, and more peer support. We are currently looking into meeting some of these needs.

• Support Services will be promoted more prominently in the newsletter and on a fact sheet will be developed and distributed in Asian languages
• a small collection of holistic health resources like books, tapes, and videos is being collected for our library
• our new Volunteer Coordinator will be developing and recruiting new volunteer positions to meet the needs of ACAS service users
• a retreat for Asians living with HIV/AIDS is being planned for the early fall

Support Program and Service development are a continual process at ACAS. We will try to accommodate your suggestions and comments into our programs wherever possible. If you are an Asian person living with HIV/AIDS and have not had an opportunity to participate in a focus group about Support Services, please contact Len.

ACAS PHA INTERNET TRAINING PROGRAM

In terms of program development, the Committee had demonstrated its creativity by initiating an inexpensive internet training program by ACAS PHA Clients for ACAS PHA Clients using existing equipment and resources. This will be an opportunity for ACAS PHA Clients to develop new skills and reduce isolation.

The Support Program Committee has taken the initiative to provide training and access to the internet to ACAS clients who have expressed interest in providing and participating in this training.

• clients will develop and implement training at ACAS to other clients to access the internet on a one on one basis
• internet orientation will include visiting Asian/HIV/AIDS web sites
• ACAS will provide computer and access to internet free of charge to ACAS PHA clients and their partners on an ongoing basis
• clients can book 2 hours weekly after training: this would need to coincide with staff availability for support and supervision

If you are an ACAS PHA client or their partner and are interested in accessing this new program, please contact Len at ACAS for more information.

ACAS PHA GRANTS

Grant year will now be the calendar year beginning on January 1st and ending on December 31st. Subject to fund availability, ACAS Service Users can now make a claim for $200.00 from each fund until December 31st 1999. The next granting period will run from January 1, 2000 to December 31st 2000.

DONATION NEEDED

If you have a queen size box spring you would like to donate to one of ACAS's service users, please contact Len.

ACAS PHA RETREAT

ACAS is in the planning stages of a PHA Retreat for early fall. If you are interested in attending or helping to organize or facilitate this event, please contact Len at ACAS.

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