Featured Partner

The CDC NPIN Featured Partner resource offers HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, STD, and TB prevention-focused organizations a platform to showcase their services, programs, and materials. Our goal is to highlight the work of CDC's prevention partners and encourage partners to connect with each other to share information and strategies. Organizations are nominated by CDC or their peers, or are self-nominated. Those selected are featured on the NPIN Web site for the month.

The Organization to Achieve Solutions in Substance-Abuse (O.A.S.I.S.) is a nonprofit community-based clinic located in Oakland, California. Founded in 1998, its mission is to provide high-quality medical and education services to marginalized members of the community, especially those with addictions and related conditions such as mental illness, homelessness, and the like.

Although the seroprevalance of hepatitis C (HCV) in drug injectors in its catchment zone exceeded 90 percent, limited services were available for persons with the greatest need for intervention and at the highest risk for complications. In response, O.A.S.I.S. developed a highly successful medical and education program for marginalized individuals affected by this condition.

Now one of the country's largest centers for HCV treatment in drug users, O.A.S.I.S. has created and tested a battery of peer-based educational tools targeting high-risk individuals, all of which are available at no cost on its Web site. More than 100,000 copies of the O.A.S.I.S. educational workbook on HCV entitled "Get the Facts!" have been distributed nationwide, and data from O.A.S.I.S. HCV treatment studies contributed to the 2002 National Institutes of Health Consensus Statement on HCV, which specified that persons with active addiction issues should be considered candidates for HCV treatment on a case-by-case basis. O.A.S.I.S. has partnered with and received funding from CDC, the Health Resources and Services Administration, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Recent work has extended the educational mission of O.A.S.I.S. to establish a free HCV provider mentoring program entitled Hepatitis C University (www.hcvu.org) as a way of increasing the numbers of providers that are fluent in treating HCV in challenging patient populations. Its partner program HepC:411 is a free call-in interactive teleconference for persons with HCV who would like to speak with a medical or peer expert about their diagnosis, testing, or treatment. More information on this program is available on the HepC:411 Web page.

"Get the Facts!" A HCV Video Curriculum for In-and Out-of-Treatment Drug Users

Many are skeptical about the potential efficacy of a brief HCV education intervention in high-risk individuals. But based on its successful education and treatment programs, O.A.S.I.S. hypothesized that a well-designed curriculum could lead to significant and durable improvements in knowledge about this disease. In partnership with CDC, O.A.S.I.S. developed a dynamic, peer-based HCV education curriculum for persons at risk for or affected by HCV. Provided in 2 formats—a comprehensive 4-part, 30-minute series for drug users currently enrolled in treatment and a shorter, 7-minute prevention-education video for persons at syringe exchange—O.A.S.I.S. videos are peer-based, culturally sensitive, and entertaining.

Studies to assess the efficacy of these videos on 450 in-treatment and 100 out-of-treatment drug users were recently completed. These demonstrated that 12 weeks after a single video intervention, highly statistically significant and durable improvements in knowledge persisted.

O.A.S.I.S. offers many educational materials free of charge on its Web site, including the "Get the Facts" HCV Video Curriculum. Click the links below to:

View and Download Workbooks and Videos

Order Workbooks and Videos

View Publications List

Videos and workbooks may also be ordered by contacting the clinic at: oasisclinic@sbcglobal.net.

Contact the NPIN Outreach Team for more information on Featured Partner nominations—info@cdcnpin.org

Archives

Visit the Featured Partner Archive to learn about other Featured Partners.