Action Wellness

Case management programcase managers are professionals with degrees and expertise in social work, nursing, mental health, drug and alcohol addiction, the prison system, family and prenatal services, adolescents, transgender communities and the deaf and hard of hearing community. Case managers offer confidential individualized care coordination and advocacy to hiv infected and other chronically ill individuals and their families requiring help with housing, substance abuse and mental health issues. They insure that clients and their families receive the highest level of care and benefits available through appropriate coordination with social service, medical entitlement and other related systems. Action Wellness' home housing specialists provide practical and emotional support to hiv infected families. Case managers establish consistent and ongoing relationships with families and provide these services in clients' homes and the neighborhoods in which they live. Care outreach workers provide assistance to reengage clients who are lost to care. The buddy program is an integral part of our case management services. All clients who are assigned to a volunteer buddy are required to be receiving case management services. It is made up of over 200 men and women who provide emotional support, companionship and practical assistance to people with aids, hiv disease and other chronic illnesses. Also, the 340b pharmacy program has become an increasingly important part of the case management program.

Total outreach and preventionaction Wellness provides education through a number of programs including community and workplace education, a speaker's bureau, monthly forums and production and distribution of educational literature.

Housing program:housing counseling and housing-action Wellness provides assistance in locating safe, affordable housing and housing counseling services to people infected with hiv. Transisional housing-action Wellness provides housing in north philadelphia for homeless individuals and families living with hiv/aids. Supportive services are designed to help people living with hiv gain the skills necessary to build stable futures. In addition, scattered site housing subsidies are available to clients who qualify.

[1] volunteer servicesaction Wellness has almost 400 active volunterrs. Other volunteer programs include immediate seating volunteers, dining out for life ambassador volunteers, student social work intern volunteers, prison linkage, food delivery and office volunteers. Immediate seating is a volunteer run program that provides complimentary tickets for cultural and sporting events to clients. This program is made possible by the generosity of local cultural organizations which provide thousands of free tickets each year to area events for people living with hiv and other chronic illnesses.

[2] positive Action employment programpositive Action is a comprehensive consumer-involved program that addresses the employment needs of people living with hiv/aids.

[3] special initiatives and advocacy

[4] health center - Action Wellness provides a primary care clinic, annex west health center, in collaboration with family practice and counseling network ("fpcn"). Fpcn nurse practioners work with Action Wellness medical case managers to provide comprehensive services.

[5] rep payee research - Action Wellness is carrying out the rep payee program in partnership with the university of pittsburgh as part of a demonstration project funded by the national institutes of health. The 5-year structural intervention entitled "impact of representative payee services on art adherence among marginalized people living with hiv/aids", will enable more than 150 vulnerable Action Wellness clients who are living with hiv to receive supportive financial education and management services aimed at alleviating housing and financial instability as barriers to care.