Monitoring and documenting community-based organization outreach activities for populations at risk for HIV

Street outreach has been demonstrated to be an effective strategy for reaching persons who are not served by traditional health-care programmes and are at high risk for contracting the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and subsequent acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) supports street outreach programmes through a number of mechanisms that offer funding and technical assistance to State and local health departments, community-based organizations, and national organizations. A recent systematic review of four outreach programmes and reviews of other CDC-supported outreach revealed the need for guidance concerning systems of monitoring and documenting services.