In the U.S., half of the 1.2 million people infected with HIV are not engaged in regular care. The National HIV/AIDS strategy prioritizes the critical goals of linking patients to care and retaining them as part of an overall effort to ensure that patients and their communities benefit from advanced HIV treatments. To support this goal, bridge2care offers a self-directed e-learning platform designed to improve public health by training health care professionals on proven linkage and retention techniques.
Utilizing a set of integrated e-learning tools, bridge2.care provides training on skills related to communication, patient engagement and quality care. Modules are presented in a gamified environment that follows the “bridge” theme and allows users to collect points and progress badges as the move through the curriculum. The learning experience combines highly realistic, video-based patient-provider simulations with knowledge games to create an immersive, engaging experience.
The development of bridge2care was funded by Merck & Co. Inc., and the project was launched at the XIX International Conference on AIDS in July 2012. Based on initial pilot data from 25 HIV service organizations (comprising 56 front-line providers) in New York City, 93% of users reported that they felt prepared to implement the skills learned in bridge2care