The HIV Services Program at Shanti Project offers free non-judgmental, harm reduction-based support services to people living with HIV. Their services include client advocacy, care coordination, emotional support, health education, and isolation-reducing programming. After having collaborated with Facente Consulting on several projects in the past, Shanti reached out to us to facilitate the development of promotional materials to educate clients and referring providers about their services.
In order to figure out the root of the problem Shanti was trying to solve through new promotional materials, Facente Consulting first held guided discussions with the HIV Services Program management team and conducted interviews with program staff members. This led us to identify an uptick in inappropriate referrals being made by providers, leading to dissatisfied clients who felt their needs were not being adequately met. To address this, Facente Consulting designed new promotional materials that could be used to educate providers about Shanti’s programs, and a separate set of materials for clients to help manage expectations of what they would receive at Shanti. To close out the project we produced a final report that highlighted internal and external factors that Shanti staff had identified as contributors to the problem of inappropriate referrals, and included recommendations about how Shanti management could address those concerns beyond simply disseminating the promotional materials.