title: Navigator Approach to Improve Quality of Care for Vulnerable Populations in Mexico.
abstract: For nearly 30 years, Programa Compañeros Inc (Compañeros) has worked in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, to ensure that vulnerable populations can exercise their rights to receive HIV and substance abuse prevention and treatment services. Compañeros staff has worked to ameliorate the negative results that limit access to care to the most vulnerable individuals: those who are poor, homeless, sex workers, addicted, and others whose life context put them at greater risk for being infected with HIV. With support from the MAC AIDS Foundation, Compañeros has expanded its capacity to deliver services to persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and to HIV-vulnerable populations. This short communication describes findings from an internal evaluation conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the MAC AIDS-funded navigator-based program implemented at Compañeros.
authors.affiliation: Alliance for Border Collaboratives, El Paso, TX, USA rebeca@utep.edu.
authors.forename: Rebeca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramos
authors.affiliation: College of Health Sciences at The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA.
authors.forename: João
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ferreira-Pinto
authors.affiliation: College of Health Sciences at The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Oralia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Loza
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000628:therapy*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006806:Human Rights; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico; D008875:Middle Aged; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D012944:Social Support; D035862:Vulnerable Populations / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: continuity of care; navigators; promotores; quality of care; vulnerable populations