The purpose of this descriptive study is to assess resource allocation of home healthcare services for Persons with HIV/AIDS across 14 states moderately affected by the HIV epidemic and analyze factors related to HHC availability for adult and pediatric PW HIV/A. The study approaches HHC availability for PW HIV/A from the perspective of both the Official State Agency and the Home Healthcare agency with the goal of providing baseline data to inform local, state and federal health planning and policy making decisions. The main study has two phases: A. An analysis to state long-term plans for HIV related direct service provision and public policies related to access, availability and reimbursement for HIV/A home health care. B. A mail survey to 2000 home health agencies in the 14 states having between 300-1100 identified living PW HIV/A. The instrument developed by the investigator will gather baseline data on a availability of Adult and Pediatric HHC services, the number of PW HIV/A served by the various types of agency, the numbers and reasons for refusal of service to PW HIV/A, the types of services offered, problems with staff refusal to provide service, agency HIV policies and programs to facilitate service provision, and problems experienced by agencies in servicing the HIV/A population. Data analysis will be primarily descriptive and correlational in nature. State documents will be content analyzed on criteria to evaluate eligibility requirements, benefits, and reimbursement levels. Findings will provide a unique view of the services, dynamics and determinants of HHC availability to PW HIV/AIDS.
