Over the course of its history, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation has continued to expand its scope and reach to become a true public health-centered organization. This week on the AHFter hours podcast, we speak with two vital members of the Public Health team about their mission.
Public Health Spotlight
Highlighting the people and projects of AHF’s Public Health Division
GUEST BIO:
Alex Goncalves is the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s Senior Director for Public Health, overseeing the wellness testing and mobile programs nationally for AHF. He’s been with the organization for 12 years, and has been working in the HIV field since 2001.
Greg Jacques is the Director of Testing and Wellness with a focus on the Southern Bureau. He’s been with AHF for 11 years, beginning as a tester. His background before AHF was in disease intervention for local health departments.
CORE TOPICS + DETAILS:
[8:56] - Battling Stigma for Public Health
Social justice and health rolled into one
Battling stigma is essential for helping treat patients in need. One strategy has been the normalization of HIV testing, particularly in urban settings. There’s no hiding the HIV label— by design— because AHF wants to make HIV testing something that’s done regularly in at-risk communities, just like going to the dentist or getting a flu shot.
[19:53] - Available, Nonjudgemental & Sex Positive
Changing how we talk about and address HIV
Mobile testing units are an essential part of the AHF mission, and the way these units are executed speaks to the culture and mission at AHF. Nonjudgemental and sex-positive messages are everywhere in these MTUs, from the free condoms available to the educational posters that are all about being responsible as patients enjoy healthy sex lives. This is a strategic choice on the part of AHF to continue destigmatizing HIV in the communities that most need that change of perspective.
[25:04] - Career Opportunities in Public Health
Where to start your journey to service
Alex and Greg recommend taking a look at the internship program through the human resource department. Many full time AHF employees began as interns, going on to become HIV testers, researchers, and even healthcare center workers. You can also work with a local PHD manager if you’re already working with AHF in order to get involved with onsite events.
RESOURCES:
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ABOUT AFTER HOURS:
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is the world’s largest HIV/AIDS service organization, operating in 45 countries globally. The mission? Providing cutting-edge medicine and advocacy for everyone, regardless of ability to pay.
The After Hours podcast is an official podcast of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, in which host Lauren Hogan is joined by experts in a range of fields to educate, inform, and inspire listeners on topics that go far beyond medical information to cover leadership, creativity, and success.
Learn more at: https://www.aidshealth.org
ABOUT THE HOST:
Lauren Hogan is the Associate Director of Communications for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and has been working in a series of roles with the Foundation since 2016. She’s passionate about increasing the public visibility of AIDS, the Foundation's critical work, and how everyday people can help join the fight to make cutting-edge medicine, treatment, and support available for anyone who needs it.
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Lauren Hogan:
Get unfiltered lessons from our leaders at AHF as we uncover real raw stories of where we came from and where we are going. Join us for an unscripted look at the connections our senior leadership have to our mission, core values, and hot initiatives. AHF is the world's largest HIV/AIDS service organization, operating in 45 countries globally, 16 states domestically, including DC and Puerto Rico. Our mission is to provide cutting edge medicine and advocacy, regardless of ability to pay.
Lauren Hogan:
Hello, and welcome to the AHFter Hours Podcast. I'm your host, Lauren Hogan, serving as your liaison to take you through this journey to learn more about AIDS Healthcare Foundation. Before we start the show, please make sure to remember to check out the show notes so you can follow along. Now, let's get started.
Lauren Hogan:
So, hello, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the AHFter Hours Podcast. As always, I'm your host, Lauren Hogan, and, today, we have a special spotlight on one of our most integral business lines, if I do say so myself, our Public Health Division, and, today, I have two guests with me that are going to help us dive into this further, Alex Goncalves and Greg Jacques. Welcome to the show, you guys.
Greg Jacque:
Thank you, thank you.
Alexander Goncalves:
Thank you for having us.
Lauren Hogan:
Absolutely. So, really quick, let's just dive in so the folks that are listening know who you guys are. So, Alex, tell us a little bit about yourself, what your role is, and how you got your start at AHF.
Alexander Goncalves:
Sure. So, my name is Alexander Glencalvez. I am the Senior Director for Public Health. I oversee the wellness testing and mobile programs nationally for AHF. I've been here for 12 years already with AHF. Started working in the HIV field in 2001.
Alexander Goncalves:
My background was a social worker, and sort of as part of my journey coming out as a gay man, I was looking into sort of support groups and a way for me to meet other peers, and that's sort of how I've sort of met myself in my old organization, [inaudible 00:02:04], where it was sort of like a young gay man's group, but also offers HIV and STD information and testing, and sort of started my career in this field due to being involved in that organization. I was there as a director of HIV prevention programs for 10 years before I made this big leap over to AHF.
Lauren Hogan:
And, Greg, what about you?
Greg Jacque:
Oh, not as pretty like Alex, but Greg Jacques, Director of Testing and Wellness Program, with a focus on the Southern Bureau. I've been with AHF for 11 years now. I started my journey as a tester with AHF, but prior to AHF, I was working with one of the local health departments here in South Florida as a disease intervention specialist.
Greg Jacque:
My role was to go out the community and intervene, any STI, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis, and interview folks, the community, as to where you contracted their infection, and I would go down and hunt their partners, and so forth, and just reviewing... So, on a daily basis, we'll get case reports, and myself and my colleagues noticed that, "Hey, there's a lot of case reports coming out of AHF, a lot of gonorrhea, chlamydia."
Greg Jacque:
AHF, when I was at the health department, it was the new kid on the block, per se, in South Florida. So, they were growing, and I had two or three of my colleagues were working there on a part-time, per diem basis, which is lower than part-time, on a per diem basis, just to make some extra income. So, I was like, "Why not?" So, I started my journey working as a per diem tester at one of our... Out of the Closet in South Beach, and that pretty much just started my journey from there. I was then promoted into a program manager role, and from their Associate Director, Director, and here I am today.
Alexander Goncalves:
That's a good journey, Greg.
Greg Jacque:
It's a little journey.
Lauren Hogan:
So I want to just follow up with that and ask, because you guys are in different areas of the country, basically. Alex, you're in LA. Greg, you're in Florida. I'm curious to hear about your various perspectives, considering you're in different regions, regarding testing and maybe what that looks like from a community standpoint. So, Greg, I'm going to turn it over to you first because you're in... Technically, Florida's our largest region, or the Southern Bureau really is our largest region, so I'm going to turn it over to you first.
Greg Jacque:
Yes. When it comes to testing, it's unique. Some areas in the Southern region, there're some places that have testing services, and there're some that are pretty much desert towns, meaning there's little to no testing services and/or the services that are being provided are during traditional hours, usually nine to five, Monday through Friday, when most folks are at work. So, there is that missed opportunity to engage the community, and the unique part about AHF and the services that we provide, our services are being provided during nontraditional hours, weekends, even late night testing, late night at our clubs, the various clubs, bath houses.
Greg Jacque:
We try to find unique opportunities to engage the community, meeting the community where they are, whether it's at a college campus, a sauna, AKA, bathhouse, strip clubs, parks, Pride events, meeting the community where they are.
Greg Jacque:
10 years ago, when I first started with AHF, we were using the older technology, not older, but we were still sort of ahead of the curve when it comes down to our technology, but we transitioned from using a 15-minute test to a one-minute test. So, now, clients are receiving their results in less than 60 seconds, and that was a game changer where we're the only one in the country using a one-minute test to provide HIV services.
Greg Jacque:
We found that it was very helpful when we would go to these Pride events, that it allowed us to test people by the masses versus waiting 20 or 30 minutes for your results. People are getting their results in one minute. Our testing process was lasting under 6-7 minutes for the entire testing process. Yeah, I don't know, Alex, if you have anything you want to add?
Alexander Goncalves:
Of course. I think, also, there's a plethora of services that we provide in testing that I feel it caters to the different folks that we have in the community. For example, if you're seeking HIV or STD testing, but you don't want to go to your doctor because stigma, or you don't want to be seen walking into the public health STD clinic.
Alexander Goncalves:
We also have HIV and STD services out of our Out of the Closet thrift store, retail stores, that also sort of offers the anonymity and giving people the chance to go in and get tested without feeling like they're going to be judged walking into an STD clinic, per se, and also in their wellness programs. You know, the fact that you can come in and see a provider if something's itching or burning, then get treated on the spot without sort of waiting to get tested and waiting for the results, I think, is also something unique in our programs.
Alexander Goncalves:
Especially after COVID, there was a spike in STD in the country, so we did see an increase of sort of clients coming into our wellness and our testing programs overall, just because of the flow and sort of things being free and easy and seamless for the client.
Alexander Goncalves:
It was a way of us sort of catering to the community. Again, non-conventional settings, offering testing in the mobile setting, in a thrift store, at our own standalone wellness centers can give options to the community as to how they want to be serviced or whatnot.
Lauren Hogan:
So, I want to slide into my next question, because, Alex, you kind of touched on it, it's I want to talk about stigma, and you kind of said stigma affects sometimes how we can actually get people tested. So, how or what strategies have we used to address stigma to make sure that we still give those folks that really need it the opportunity to get tested in a safe space without feeling stigmatized, or I can't walk into this building because it says, "AIDS Healthcare Foundation" on it, and I don't want somebody to think I have AIDS?
Lauren Hogan:
So, Alex, I'll start with you, and, then, Greg, I'm curious to hear your perspective being that you're kind of in that rural south area from the Mississippi to the areas in Georgia and et cetera. So, go ahead, Alex.
Alexander Goncalves:
Right. More in the urban setting, I think we kind of switched it around where we did want people to feel that we're normalizing HIV testing. I think, in the urban setting, we didn't want to at first sort of hide the word HIV in a sense because we wanted people to feel like, "Hey, it's normal for me to get tested. It's not something that I should be stigmatized."
Alexander Goncalves:
For example, being able to provide HIV testing outside of the gay bars, and in West Hollywood, for example, being there seven days a week, same time, same place, we test about 900 people a month in that location alone, and these are sort of hours from 7:00 to 3:00 a.m. So, the fact that we're able to sort of break that stigma, where people can feel okay standing in line outside of the mobile unit in front of a gay bar, or being seen getting into the HIV mobile unit, I think that we've had a success there.
Alexander Goncalves:
I think, in the Southern regions or in the Southern states, I do feel what you're asking, Lauren. We do have to keep in mind that we don't want to have sort of the word AIDS or HIV so out there because that will sort of deter some of the folks from them coming in.
Alexander Goncalves:
We started sort of Wellness on Wheels, offering STDs and PrEP services and sort of other services, not just HIV testing, so that people feel like they're coming in to get a wellness service or a health check, per se, versus just an HIV test. So, that's one of the ways that we've tackled stigma because that's a big challenge still in some of our sites, folks still not wanting to be seen getting an HIV test, or even not knowing or having knowledge of the testing that we're doing. They think that we're testing for AIDS or what have you, or not really being so knowledgeable of the process, or having the basic knowledge of how you get HIV still sort of baffles our testers, but, also, it's a place where you can get condoms and get sort of education.
Alexander Goncalves:
We do have folks that are really sort of are blessed and are very thankful that our van's sort of parked in the corner, and they're able to get service because there are areas like Greg mentioned that are desert areas in a sense where there are no HIV services, or there's nothing that is free. Everything would have to sort of be covered by insurance. So, I do feel that AHF does a really good job in looking at areas where there is a need, and for us to sort of drop in a mobile unit, a wellness clinic, or our linkage to HIV care staff. So, I do feel like that's a good strategy that AHF is doing, where we're sort of expanding in so many places at the moment.
Lauren Hogan:
Greg?
Greg Jacque:
I would like to add also, kudos to marketing. Some of our marketing efforts really assists with destigmatizing HIV, making it fun, making it sexy. Also, partnering with our various affinity groups that we have within AHF. You have your Impulse, your Flux, your Blacc, those... Man! Shout out to Michael Weinstein. He's an amazing visionary when it comes to HIV, and I think that's one of the things that also keeps me going because it's a constant new challenge, a new breadth, or new venture that we're going off into, so from Healthy Housing, from all of these services, it's a more holistic approach to HIV.
Greg Jacque:
As Alex mentioned, we're like a wellness on wheels. Being able to go into communities and provide these services, just opens up doors and allow people to have that conversation when it comes to HIV and prevention. So, once they start learning and connecting the dots from, "Oh, yeah. This is Healthy Housing," or, "Oh, I didn't know your mobile program was part of the Out of the Closet."
Greg Jacque:
One cool thing we adopted was CHAMP, our electronic system, Healthvana. Now, we have a huge database of everyone who's getting tested, so if you receive services out in LA, and you're down here in South Beach for Pride or whatever, just hanging out, and you happen to see our mobile unit, we can pull up your entire testing history. We can look the patient up. The patient can sign in, see their results, and I think also just creating that convenience, that trust with that patient. Most of our counselors... Kudos to our testing team, that's out there in the front lines are all going out in the field, making these relationships with the community, relating to the community, and not looking down to the community, meeting people where they are.
Greg Jacque:
Just to step back a little bit, I think the affinity groups also play a key role in helping us identify key gatekeepers. Yes, we're doing it on our end, but that's another tool in the toolbox when it comes to destigmatizing HIV.
Lauren Hogan:
Absolutely. So, I'm going to ask you guys separate questions just to give our listeners some insight to how our mobile testing unit works, which we kind of say, the "MTU." So, what's that experience like? Greg, I'm going to throw that question to you, and, then, Alex, I want to talk to you about what's the experience like when you go into one of our wellness centers? So, Greg, go ahead and start and talk about the MTU or mobile testing unit experience, and what is our mobile testing unit?
Greg Jacque:
So, our mobile testing unit, it's an RV or a Mercedes Sprinter van.
Lauren Hogan:
It's a Mercedes Sprinter van. It's very nice.
Greg Jacque:
We all played it.
Lauren Hogan:
Yeah, I've got to hype it up. It's very nice.
Alexander Goncalves:
I mean, we only have 32 of them.
Greg Jacque:
Yeah.
Lauren Hogan:
Exactly.
Greg Jacque:
It's an RV Sprinter van, and we have different variations. We have two-room Sprinter vans, and, recently, a shout out to Danny, he's been working diligently and adding extra rooms on our Sprinter units, and, now, recently, the new reiteration of our Sprinter van has a bathroom. So, there's two testing rooms and a bathroom inside the Sprinter vans.
Lauren Hogan:
You all upgraded. That's nice.
Greg Jacque:
All right.
Alexander Goncalves:
Well, and don't forget, now, we have a solar panel.
Greg Jacque:
Oh, yeah. We're stepping into the future. We have solar panels.
Lauren Hogan:
Wow. I've got to see one of these new vans.
Greg Jacque:
Yes. So, we're hoping to develop more in the future, but it's very energy efficient. To go out on the mobile unit, it's usually a two to three-man team, depending on the event or activity that's going on in the community, and, so, when they go out to the field, our units are nice, clean, pristine. It's not so clinical. It has everything that we need to be able provide services to the community.
Alexander Goncalves:
The other, I think, piece, Greg, is the artwork. I think that we also sort of wrapped the mobile units. On a quarterly basis, we sort of change the wrap, and I think, even touching or sort of a connecting stigma to it, we, for example, once Dunnigan's hate happened, we sort of wrapped the mobile units with that messaging so it also sort of was not only a mobile billboard for AHF, but it also sort of brought awareness to the campaigns, and sort of all the advocacy efforts that we're using.
Alexander Goncalves:
I think that the mobile units specifically do a lot of the groundwork and a lot of the mission work for AHF. We go out to the communities wherever it's needed, and unlike the wellness or fixed site, we can't move the building itself, so the mobile units sort of play the integral part in being able to go out there and offer that piece.
Alexander Goncalves:
Like Greg mentioned, we do have different iterations of the mobile units, and with the Sprinter being sort of a smaller mobile unit, we're able to sort of find parking and be able to get into where the community is at. We do have four or five of the bigger RV units where we're able to sort of offer more services. For example, we provide STD or PrEP services out of some of our mobile units, so it allows sort of a space for a lab indoors as well.
Lauren Hogan:
Well, I can just attest to it. I've gotten tested on the MTU several times. It is very nice. It's very clean, and to your point, Alex, I think the marketing piece, it's important at the end of the day.
Lauren Hogan:
One of the newer campaigns we had, Hook Up With Us, it's kind of sexually ambiguous, I would like to say so, right, you could have it on your T-shirt. So, it's an inviting message. It doesn't say, "AIDS" across it or anything like that, but it's almost like an inviting message to say, "Oh, what is this?" It brings curiosity, and, ultimately, it's pretty to look at. It's a great neon graphic, but, in that, you talked about STD testing and wellness, and how we have our fixed sites, which we call them because they don't move. So, what's that experience like if a potential client or somebody just wants to come in and get tested? What is that like?
Alexander Goncalves:
Yes. So for our wellness programs, we are in 14 different cities across the U.S. Our wellness programs are sort of embedded in different locations. They could be inside of our Out of the Closet retail stores. They could be inside of our healthcare centers as well, or we have sort of our own wellness sites that have their own building, depending on the location where you're at.
Alexander Goncalves:
As far as the experience for the clients, I think you're going to come into a nonjudgmental sort of a sex-positive environment. You're going to see condoms. You're going to see sort of educational posters, and instead of this non-conventional medical setting, where you might feel like you're being judged or being criticized, you might be hearing some song being played in the hallway or what have you, or you might be able to shop in the thrift store while you're waiting to be called or be seen, so it sort of brings a different experience to what you think of an STD clinic.
Alexander Goncalves:
Again, it's also a place where you don't need an appointment. You just walk in, and we're able to sort of see you. During COVID, the wellness clinics... Some of the fixed sites and testing programs were one of the few programs that we never sort of closed our doors, while the health departments and other sort of agencies sort of stopped during COVID. Wellness was one of the sites that we continued to sort of provide services, so that's some of the things that we're very proud of.
Lauren Hogan:
Yeah, and I think that's important too, what you said. It's like, we basically provide you different experiences. If you want to go and get more of a thrifting kind of, "I want to go shop and get tested at the same time at Out of the Closet," that's one experience. If you want more of a clinical or a medical kind of environment, you can go to one of our Wellnesses, but that's the unique part about our organization is we're giving you these different avenues and different experiences to get non-judgmental free testing, which is so important.
Alexander Goncalves:
Yeah, and, also, Lauren, to add, I think innovation plays a key role in public health. The fact that you register just by scanning a QR code now, and you receive your STD results through an app, and you get notified, and we're able to send you a text message, and this sort of a new technology has really made even the registration process easier and sort of the communication with the patients a lot better. So, it's not an old school free clinic. If you think of a free clinic, that's what you kind of think about. When you come in, you're going to see a clean, sort of innovative place that uses technology, and so it's that sort of experience that you'll see.
Lauren Hogan:
Yeah. So, my next question for you guys is what do you see as the future of testing and wellness education? Like, what does that look like in you guys' purview or perspectives?
Alexander Goncalves:
Right now, with testing, last year, I think we did a big switch in our department in which we sort of combined wellness testing and mobile programs sort of under the same umbrella, under the one leader or one sort of visionary in a sense, or one business line. We want to sort of [inaudible 00:22:43] everybody, and for folks to be able to work in the wellness centers and be able to, if they want, next week, work out of the mobile unit, and sort of give staff the flexibility to work in different environments, and keep you away from doing the same thing every day.
Alexander Goncalves:
So, as far as the future, I think, internally, we're doing a lot of changes that I feel like it's going to give staff a lot of opportunity, or even we're trying to certify, for example, all of our testers to be phlebotomists, and giving staff an opportunity to even get extra credentialing or extra sort of certifications that they'll sort of be able to take on. It's another thing that we're excited to explore as well for our staff,
Lauren Hogan:
Greg?
Greg Jacque:
Yes. I think, for me testing is something that will be needed on an ongoing basis. When you're looking at the HIV landscape, as far as who's being diagnosed, the population is getting younger and younger. So, I definitely think we definitely need to continue that access to create that avenue for the community.
Greg Jacque:
In HIV, now, it's more PrEP. Now, we're going to a more PrEP'ed landscape where we're encouraging folks to engage in PrEP services. There're certain communities that have a plethora of information in regards to PrEP, and there're some communities that have no idea PrEP exists, or understand that, by taking this pill or a shot, a shot can prevent you from contracting HIV. So, I think just changing our mindset. Before, we were looking for identifying new positive or positives to get to care, but, now, our mindset is shifting where, now, we're working on the negative lists to try to keep this person negative and stay negative for the long run, so [inaudible 00:25:01].
Lauren Hogan:
Proactive versus reactive.
Greg Jacque:
Exactly.
Lauren Hogan:
For sure. So, we are pretty much at time, guys. So, I have one last question. In terms of folks that want to get involved in PHD, what kind of programs do you guys have that kind of offer career opportunities, just so folks know?
Alexander Goncalves:
Yes. We do partner up with our human resource department, and they do have an internship program. We've used many of our internship interns too, and, actually, we've hired a lot of our interns as well. So, a lot of them have become HIV testers. They've gone to other departments. They work in our research department or even our healthcare centers. So, the internship program is another opportunity for folks.
Alexander Goncalves:
Also, internally, with our AHF employees, we always have big events like Pride or what have you, that we also would want to have volunteers to help us with registration, or even just help us sort of engage in conversations with folks at these events. So, internally, reach out to any of the PHD sites, and we could always invite you to come out to one of our events and help volunteer. For external folk, we could link you to our human resource department and see when the next internship sort of cycle will begin.
Lauren Hogan:
Greg, anything you want to add?
Greg Jacque:
No. I was going to mention, yeah, definitely, for our internal staff, just working with your local PHD manager and determining when is the next event, and/or if you just want to stop by the mobile unit and just experience the testing process yourself. So, then, too, you can be an advocate and share your experience with someone who's never been tested.
Lauren Hogan:
Awesome. Well, thank you guys so much. This has been very insightful because, as we all know, PHD is our bread and butter, and if we're not going into the community, then we're obviously not doing our jobs properly. So, thank you guys so much. Appreciate you guys, as always, and we'll see you next time.
Greg Jacque:
Awesome. Thank you, Lauren. Thank you, guys.
Alexander Goncalves:
Thank you. Thank you for having us.
Lauren Hogan:
Thank you so much for joining us. If you enjoyed this episode, and you'd like to help support the show, please subscribe, share it with your friends, like, post about it on social media, or leave a rating and review. Follow us on Instagram at AHFter Hours, and see you next time.