Experience ACTS
See for yourself how ACTS can make HIV testing a routine part of the care you deliver by accessing the online ACTS tutorial and materials found below. In less than 2 hours, you will understand the ACTS approach and how to put its easy-to-use tools to work in your practice. After you experience the tutorial, adapt the slide set as needed to train your staff or use as a TOT.
Identifying the 300,000 HIV+ people in the U.S. that don’t yet know their status is one of the few HIV/AIDS problems providers can solve now, and it starts with you.
Step 1:
First, download the suite of ACTS materials you will need to review before, during and after the ACTS training presentation. Then download and read or listen to the ACTS training presentation.
Step 2:
If you would like to implement ACTS, click here for tools and resources.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is there a cost to use ACTS? There is no cost to use ACTS with the downloadable resources. Please maintain the ACTS logo and website on all materials.
In which clinical settings is it appropriate to use ACTS? ACTS is designed to be adaptable so it can be used in any clinical setting. It is currently being implemented in community health, emergency room, in-patient, school-based, and youth clinical settings.
If I use ACTS am I required to provide reports? You will not be required to provide information about your clinic’s use of ACTS, but we welcome informal reports of your challenges and successes. Because we require you to give us contact information, we may contact you to check in on how ACTS is working for you. You may want to devise a simple system to assess testing numbers and rates before and after ACTS to assess your own progress.
Do I have to order clinic packs or can I just get individual lots of ACTS materials? You can order materials separately or in packs, though there are minimum order quantities. Contact us to discuss your clinic’s specific needs.
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If you have further questions or comments, please contact:
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What is ACTS?
ACTS (Advise, Consent, Test, Support) is a user-friendly system of Implementation Guidance for routine HIV testing and Streamlined Counseling that is proven to facilitate significant improvements in HIV testing in both clinical and community-based settings.
Making HIV testing more routine is important because HIV-positive people who learn their status can access treatment that improves their health and prolongs their lives—and they are more successful at preventing transmission to others as antiretroviral treatment lowers viral load and half report reducing their high-risk sexual behaviors once they know they are infected.
In line with the CDC’s recommendation to routinize HIV testing in clinical settings, ACTS is a model for anyone in health care who strives to achieve a paradigm shift from the limitations of conventional HIV testing to the public health benefits of routinizing HIV testing and linkage to care. Developed by the Adolescent AIDS Program at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, in collaboration with the New York/New Jersey AIDS Education and Training Center, ACTS is now implemented throughout the United States and South Africa. Notably, ACTS is being used by clinical and community partners in the largest municipal scale up of routine HIV testing in the US: The Bronx Knows HIV Testing Initiative sponsored by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and a coalition of Bronx community partners.
ACTS Poster Presentations, 2008 International AIDS Conference (Mexico City)
Download ACTS Poster: United States
Download ACTS Poster: South Africa
Implementing ACTS
This package of materials and tools can help to familiarize providers, administrators, trainers and other clinic staff with ACTS, a proven new HIV counseling and testing approach that can make HIV screening a part of routine health care in various clinical settings.
ACTS Training
(Powerpoint Slide Format)
ACTS Training (PDF Format)
ACTS Manual (Cover)
ACTS Manual (part 1)
ACTS Manual (part 2)
ACTS Manual (part 3)
ACTS Manual (part 4)
Preparing Your Site for ACTS Checklist
ACTS Pocket Guide
ACTS English Brochure
ACTS Spanish Brochure
ACTS Newsletter
These online materials may be downloaded for individual sites' use but may not be sold or adapted for mass distribution. Click below if you would like to order professionally printed materials tailored to your needs.
References and Resources
Expanded Screening for HIV in the United States – An analysis of cost-effectiveness by Paltiel AD, Weinstein MC, Kimmel AD, et al.
Cost-effectiveness of screening for HIV in the Era of HAART by Sanders GD, Bayoumi AM, Sundaram V, et al.
Applying Public Health Principles to the HIV Epidemic by Frieden TR, Das-Douglas M, Kellerman SE, Henning KJ
Routine Screening for HIV Infection – Timely and Cost-effective by Bozzette SA
Is HIV/Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention Counseling Effective? Compendium of States' HIV/AIDS Laws
Kaiser Family Foundation |
