HIV/AIDS preparedness in mental health care agencies with high and low substance use disorder caseloads

The Columbia University HIV Mental Health Training Project, created to improve the mental health workforce's AIDS preparedness in New York and neighboring states, sought to compare the perceived HIV-related needs and capacities of mental health care providers in settings where clients with substance use disorders predominated versus those where clients with substance use disorders were the minority of the agencies' caseload.

The first consecutive 67 mental health care agencies that requested HIV/AIDS training between March 2000 and January 2001 completed a written needs assessment describing their HIV-related services and training needs.

Agencies with higher substance abuse caseloads were significantly more likely than others to have large HIV/AIDS caseloads, to be currently providing condoms to clients, and to rate staff comfort with sexual identity issues as well as drug-related issues as good. Overall, agencies that had received previous training in specific topic areas (e.g., HIV risk assessment) were significantly more likely than others to provide those services. Even so, in all settings, significant gaps in service provision were found.

Two decades into the AIDS epidemic, mental health care agencies, especially those treating smaller caseloads of patients with substance use disorders, may not be providing sufficient services to meet their clients' HIV-related needs.