Public Health Follow-Up Training

Public Health Follow-Up Training Required for DSHS and Provider Staff

CORE TRAINING – These courses are required for the HIV/STD workforce. You must complete core training within the first year of employment.

HIPAA Privacy Training for Contractors and Volunteers – You must take this course within six months of employment. This is a self-study course required for contractors and volunteers of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission who are not on-site at a DSHS facility. This course will give you basic information about the federal HIPAA rules that protect the privacy of an individual's health information.

STD 101: What You Need to Know – This interactive, easy-to-understand course offers an overview of the most common STDs: chlamydia, gonorrhea, trichomoniasis, syphilis, herpes, HPV, and HIV. New staff must complete STD 101 within six months of employment.

Venipuncture Training – Sites will offer training in venipuncture for all staff offering blood draws for specimen collection for HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis C testing. We do not offer venipuncture training but it can be supported through grant funding. Many community colleges and hospital districts offer inexpensive options for training. In addition to training, the staff must operate under the standing delegation order of their program and maintain their skillset according the POPS. New staff must complete venipuncture training within 60 days of employment.

Foundations of Testing and Navigation (FTN) – FTN uses CDC's guidelines for Implementing HIV Testing in Non-Clinical Settings. It focuses on status-neutral HIV navigation. Upon completion of the course, a disease intervention specialist (DIS) will have the skills needed to conduct a status-neutral HIV prevention session with increased awareness of stigmatizing language/behaviors and unconscious bias. This training introduces the importance of local resource contacts and allows the DIS to explain their role in disease intervention and management. FTN is required standard within the first year of employment for all new DIS and encouraged for DIS who have not previously attended. 

Passport to Partner Services – Passport to Partner Services provides training for disease intervention specialists (DIS) and other partner services providers including medical providers. This training is tied to your partner services job function. This training must be completed within six months of employment. How to create a CDC TRAIN Account.

Fundamentals of STD Intervention (FSTDI) – FSTDI is designed for new disease intervention specialists (DIS) as well as supervisors and managers. FSTDI must be completed within six months of employment.

TB, HIV, STD Integrated System – The THISIS resource site provides an overview of THISIS an electronic disease surveillance system that provides interactive, automated information gathering, and decision support processes for the reporting and management of TB, HIV, and all reportable STDs. THISIS training must be completed within six months of employment.

THISIS Training Videos – THISIS training videos introduce users to THISIS and provide skills to improve their experience using the system. You must view relevant THISIS training videos within six months of employment.

Advanced Motivational Interviewing (AMI) – AMI is a counseling method that helps people resolve ambivalent feelings and insecurities to find the internal motivation they need to change their behavior. AMI is a practical, empathetic, and short-term process that takes into consideration how difficult it is to make life changes. AMI must be completed within the first year of employment.

Resources

Health Advisory – Congenital Syphilis – DSHS issued a health advisory in response to an ongoing increase in syphilis cases among women of childbearing age.

DIS STD Picture Card Set – Printable cards illustrating symptoms of STDs.

DSHS Program Operating Procedures and Standards – Standards for the delivery of consistent quality services regarding HIV, sexually transmitted disease (STD), and hepatitis C virus (HCV) focused testing, counseling, and linkage to medical care. These guidelines follow the HIV National Strategy to reduce HIV transmission, identify persons living with undiagnosed HIV, enhance timely navigation to medical care, and reduce health disparities. These standards and procedures help guide HIV prevention specialists, outreach workers, disease intervention specialists (DIS), and others who provide HIV testing.

HIV and Texas Law

• General and Informed Consent – Texas Health and Safety Code §81.105 & §81.106
• HIV and Texas Law Fact Sheet – This fact sheet reviews the Texas laws regulating aspects of HIV testing and subsequent reporting.
• HIV Criminality – Texas Analysis – No criminal statutes explicitly addressing HIV exposure exist in Texas, but prosecutions have arisen under general criminal laws.

Management and Prevention of Syphilis – Produced by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Bureau of Sexually Transmitted Infections and the New York City STD Prevention Training Center.

Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) – Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is a pill taken daily to prevent HIV. Daily PrEP use reduces the risk of getting HIV through sex by about 99%. Daily PrEP use also reduces the risk of getting HIV through injection drug use by more than 70%.

Public Health Follow-Up Training Requirements – Detailed listing of training requirements for each Public Health Follow-Up position.

Resources for STD Prevention Contractors

Sexually Transmitted Disease in the United States

Testing and Treatment Guidelines – CDC standards for the treatment of HIV and STDs.