List of All AHP Programs

The AHP web site is organized to reflect the needs of our constituents: community members, clients, providers, researchers, and donors and supporters, as well as staff. For this reason, sections are organized by type of service for particular groups of people and not by particular program name. This page reflects the administrative organization of the AHP programs:

Direct Care Services

PACTS (Psychiatry, Assessment, Crisis and Triage Services)

Offers triage and assessment services for new and returning clients. Provides on-site and mobile services to HIV-positive San Franciscans in need of mental health crisis intervention, Psychiatry Clinic provides psychiatric evaluation, treatment and medication monitoring. Neuropsychological testing and other services are offered for clients with HIV-related cognitive concerns.

AIDS and Substance Abuse Program (ASAP)
Counseling and Case Management Services
Provides individual substance use counseling, case management and support group services for individuals with substance use and HIV concerns. Also provides substance use assessment and referrals.

Psychosocial Support and Prevention Services Program (PSPS)
The PSPS team offers individual psychotherapy; psychiatric care management; ongoing and time limited therapy groups for persons living with HIV and LGBTQ-identified persons living with serious mental illness; weekly peer facilitated support groups for persons living with HIV; and houses a clinical training program for graduate students in psyhology or social work who receive comprehensive clinical training in a community mental health clinic setting. The PSPS team is also home to the Considering Work Program (CWP) which provides individual and group counseling to persons living with HIV who are intereste in returning to work or school or other gainful activity.

Prevention Services

HIV Counseling and Testing Services (HCAT)
Provides confidential HIV antibody and RNA testing services in the city of San Francisco, including mobile testing at community events. Provides short-term follow-up services to clients given an HIV-positive test result to assure they successfully access appropriate medical and psychosocial care. Further, HCAT offers screening and treatment services for oral and rectal chlamydia and gonorrhea, detecting a significant number of asymptomatic cases of disease that otherwise would not have been found. Provides sexually transmitted disease treatment for clients, and when clients wish, “partner treatment,” which clients take to their partners. This STD screening and treatment service was the first of its kind in California and helps to reduce the overall burden of STDs in our community while significantly reducing the risk of HIV transmission among these clients.

Publication and Training Unit

Publications Program
Publishes books and newsletters regarding HIV-related psychosocial, mental health, and counseling issues. Includes more than a dozen books, many of which are classics, and two ongoing newsletters. Also produces publications for other AHP programs, including both printed and online client materials, community publications, development brochures, programs, and collaterals. Takes advantage of AHP’s connection to UCSF and to the two decades of frontline experience of AHP’s staff.

Training Program
Provides more than 100 live and online trainings and workshops a year. Pioneered the development of the first HIV antibody counseling and testing certification trainings, the first Prevention with People with HIV trainings, and a selection of online trainings. Current trainings include: five- two- and one-day counseling and testing trainings throughout California; two- and one-day prevention with people with HIV trainings throughout California; one-day trainings for substance treatment providers in San Francisco; and, starting in July 2007, a three-day training for community health workers performing outreach throughout California.

Research Program
Conducts research that is practical and service-oriented to devise better ways to conduct HIV prevention, service, and care. Designs and implements the agency's research projects as well as monitors and analyzes program evaluation and other data generated from AHP programs. Shares results with the global research community. Most recently, has developed a new cognitive-behavioral counseling approach to reduce sexual risk behavior among gay and bisexual men at highest risk for HIV and is currently studying the psychological impact of receiving a diagnosis of HIV infection.