Navigator Approach to Improve Quality of Care for Vulnerable Populations in Mexico

Abstract

For nearly 30 years, Programa Compañeros Inc (Compañeros) has worked in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico, to ensure that vulnerable populations can exercise their rights to receive HIV and substance abuse prevention and treatment services. Compañeros staff has worked to ameliorate the negative results that limit access to care to the most vulnerable individuals: those who are poor, homeless, sex workers, addicted, and others whose life context put them at greater risk for being infected with HIV. With support from the MAC AIDS Foundation, Compañeros has expanded its capacity to deliver services to persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and to HIV-vulnerable populations. This short communication describes findings from an internal evaluation conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the MAC AIDS-funded navigator-based program implemented at Compañeros.

Keywords: continuity of care; navigators; promotores; quality of care; vulnerable populations.