Outreach Specialist

AIDS Healthcare Foundation; Carolina (PR); Presencial; USD 35.000 - 55.000; Jornada completa

Descripción de la vacante

AIDS Healthcare Foundation in San Juan, Puerto Rico seeks a Community Outreach Specialist to spearhead outreach and education on HIV prevention, with emphasis on PrEP. The role involves identifying at-risk individuals through events and referrals and coordinating with partners to connect them to PrEP services.

The position prioritizes building partnerships with community organizations and local leaders to tailor strategies, reduce gaps in access, and ensure timely liaison to PrEP and related

Responsabilidades

• Develop and implement outreach plans to educate populations at higher risk about HIV prevention services including PrEP.
• Identify individuals potentially eligible for PrEP through community activities, events, outreach interventions, screenings, and referrals.

Descripción del empleo

Community Outreach Specialist

The Community Outreach Specialist will be part of the Division of Public Health playing a key role in identifying and recruiting individuals at higher risk of acquiring HIV, as well as implementing outreach and community education activities, with an emphasis on those individuals who may benefit from PrEP services.

Among Its Main Tasks Are

• Develop and implement outreach plans aimed at increasing knowledge about public health initiatives, HIV prevention services, including PrEP, and counseling options available to populations at higher risk for acquiring HIV.
• Actively identify individuals potentially eligible for PrEP through community activities, events, outreach interventions, screening services, and referrals from providers, organizations, and other partners.
• Collaborate with community-based organizations, service providers, community leaders, and other stakeholders to identify the needs of priority populations and tailor intervention strategies accordingly.
• Conduct presentations, workshops, educational activities, and community orientation sessions aimed at educating about HIV, STIs, PrEP, preventive services, and available resources.
• Coordinate with the Mobile Unit rapid HIV and STI testing activities, facilitating the identification of PrEP-eligible individuals and their timely liaison to appropriate services.
• Facilitate internal and external referrals to the PrEP Program and coordinate with the navigation team to promote timely liaison to clinical evaluation and PrEP services.
• Follow up on referrals generated through outreach activities to help identified individuals complete the process of liaising to PrEP services.
• Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of Outreach initiatives, collecting information on reach, participation, referrals, and outcomes, and providing recommendations aimed at continuous program improvement.
• Maintain accurate and timely records of outreach activities, people reached, participants identified, referrals made, services provided, and results obtained.
• Manage and supervise the inventory of educational materials, condoms, lubricants and other preventive resources for community activities, maintaining the inventory levels required to ensure continuity of distribution.

The Community Outreach Specialist will have primary and supportive responsibilities for the goals and objectives of the project, particularly activities related to community outreach, identification of eligible individuals, timely liaison to PrEP, and distribution of preventive supplies.

The Community Outreach Specialist is an essential component to expand the capacity to identify, recruit and link new participants to the PrEP Program. The position will establish an active and sustained presence in the priority communities of the Municipality of San Juan and reduce the existing gaps between people at higher risk of acquiring HIV and the prevention services available.

The post will also function as an operational liaison between community activities, the Mobile Unit, and the navigation and pharmacy team, to facilitate continuity of care from initial identification to liaison to PrEP services.

The position will also be critical in translating outreach activities into measurable programmatic results. In addition to increasing the number of people reached, the specialist will contribute to increasing referrals, timely linkage to PrEP and the identification of barriers that may affect access to services.

The need for this position is therefore based on the importance of having a resource dedicated exclusively to community outreach, active recruitment and liaison of people at higher risk, avoiding that access to PrEP depends only on passive referrals or people who already maintain contact with the health system.