Special Projects

Health Incentive Program for Women

The Health Incentive Program for Women (HIP4W) was designed to reduce the transmission of HIV among female sex partners of at-risk men. Women at risk for HIV by means of sexual transmission and/or injection drugs receive the following services: HIV testing, on-going in-depth harm and risk reduction counseling, and life skills enhancement. These interventions are designed to bring about and sustain behavior change. To qualify for participation in this program, clients must not be current drug injectors nor have been users within the past six months. Participants in the 180-day (six month) program receive training on HIV prevention and treatment, employment skills building and job readiness training along with prevention education on HIV and drug use, risky sexual behaviors, sexually transmitted diseases, relationships, stress and nutrition. Support systems are also in place to assist clients in their behavior change choices. The HIP4W projects are operational in both Newark and Trenton.

Project Rebuild

Strong communities are essential for success in eliminating disparities in health outcomes and increasing quality and length of life. Project Rebuild is one strategy designed to combat community epidemics by focusing on the family rather than on the individual. Rebuild incorporates the use of communication and free expression as a way to help facilitate a family discussion of HIV and reducing risk behaviors. Project Rebuild consists of a 12-week program that focuses on the “stages of change”.

Project Faith

Project FAITH was initiated because the role of the faith sector is critical in our effort to more effectively engage the community. Interventions that seek to change risk behaviors and/or social norms are more effective when coupled with the deeply held faith practices in the community. Because these faith practices are key to behavior change, the community and group level prevention initiatives target faith leaders in various houses of worship to utilize their leadership in communicating the appropriate culturally sensitive message. Two Effective Behavioral Interventions (EBIs) were also introduced to congregants of various houses of faith and residents of public housing. These two EBI interventions included the Popular Opinion Leader (POL) and Sisters Informing Sisters Together about AIDS (SISTA). POL is a community level intervention that target communities and/or their social networks or circle of influence. Originally designed to target gay and bisexual men, this intervention has been adopted for use among African American women and individuals at risk for HIV. SISTA, a multi session group-level intervention is designed to reduce specific high risk behaviors among African American women at risk for sexually-transmitted HIV infection.

HIV Incidence Surveillance (HIS) in New Jersey [pdf 12kb]

Medical Monitoring Project (MMP) [pdf 22kb]

National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (NHBS) [pdf 18kb]

"Never In Care" (NIC) Project [pdf 25kb]

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