Client Management
Client management, also known as ‘case management’, is an approach that recognises that persons living with HIV (PLHIV) and individuals at risk of HIV infection often have multiple and simultaneous healthcare needs requiring services from several providers. HIV client management is a collaborative process between the individual, the client manager, and local service providers aimed at improving access to appropriate and timely health and psycho-social care. Client managers assist individuals in assessing their specific needs, developing strategies to best address these needs, and helping them manage their way through an often complex labyrinth of services.
At AFEW, HIV client management initiatives strengthen the capacities of local governmental, non-governmental and community providers, as well as supporting local service co-ordination through the development of service provider referral networks. These networks not only assist in co-ordinating resources, but also facilitate client referrals and the smooth transition between services.
In addition to training and technical assistance, AFEW’s programming involves policy development, the establishment of training resource centres, local training teams, the dissemination of informational and prevention materials, and support for innovative service models. Our activities seek to increase communication, co-ordination and collaboration both within the community and throughout the highly vertically organised and highly specialised pillars of the healthcare system.
At AFEW, treatment education among PLHIV is a broad approach that focuses on peer-based initiatives to raise awareness and to mobilise HIV-positive individuals around their right to treatment and to understand their treatment options, as well as promoting strategies to optimise treatment adherence and personal health and well being.
