The APA AIDS EducationProject, in collaboration with Columbia University and the Pennsylvania/MidAtlantic AIDS Education Training Center, will present a one-day training session at APA’s 2000 Institute on Psychiatric Services. The session, titled "Treatment and Care in the Third Decade of AIDS," will be held Friday, October 27, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Philadelphia Marriott Hotel.

An interdisciplinary faculty will bring practitioners up to date on the latest clinical treatment information, introduce practical approaches to case management, and discuss the vital role that psychiatrists and mental health professionals can play in caring for patients with HIV.

With new medication regimens helping HIV-infected individuals live for many years after contracting the virus, mental health clinicians need to be prepared for the challenges of providing HIV-related care. The treatment of neuropsychiatric and psychiatric problems is becoming increasingly sophisticated as the body of knowledge expands on pharmacological interventions, drug-drug interactions, assessment and prevention strategies, successful patient

coping approaches, and techniques for enhancing adherence to often-complex medication regimens. In addition, clinicians are often forced to navigate complex, fragmented, and uncoordinated health care systems to help patients with HIV or AIDS access the services they need.

In response to these challenges, the APA AIDS Education Project is offering this comprehensive training at next month’s Institute on Psychiatric Services. The morning session will review drug-drug interactions, HIV-related neuropsychiatric complications, quality-of-life issues, risk behaviors, prevention, treatment adherence, and case management. The morning ends with an interactive workshop (for scholarship attendees) on risk-reduction strategies for mentally ill patients, including methods to increase the comfort level of health care professionals when talking to patients about sexual practices and substance use.

In the afternoon session, faculty will address the challenges that must be met when developing integrated care, with a discussion about treatment teams and how to increase patient access to mental health care resources.