| The countywide TB Control Program, in collaboration with Bergen Regional Medical Center, offers a comprehensive treatment clinic, case management with individual service care plans, and identification of people who may have been exposed to infection. The program also certifies those who provide Mantoux (TB) testing.
The new communicable disease database and GIS technology were used to map new TB cases by specific location, which helped identify trends, alert an appropriate public health response, and allocate resources.
To that end, the department requested the state to conduct an audit of the TB program, with the goal of using the information in our application to access state grant funding for TB control in Bergen County. Our goals were to increase resources, review program policies and procedures, decrease fragmentation and improve treatment outcomes. The agency was awarded a multi-year grant award. This funding will provide a coordinated, countywide and accountable public health system for TB control activities. The new public health practice standards address this initiative delineating local accountability and responsibility, thus eliminating patient service fragmentation.
The program maintained a high compliance with drug therapy for 63 active TB cases. The program also continued DOT (directly observed therapy) on all newly diagnosed clinic TB patients in accordance with state regulations. DOT is a TB case management intervention, which ensures that newly diagnosed patients comply with their lengthy medication regimen.
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As part of an effort to maximize local resources and promote strategic partnerships, the program conducted an in-service on tuberculosis control and DOT procedures. Participant awareness focused on rapidly changing patient ethnicity, and treatment and cultural competency issues associated with this change. (See charts.) Since persons with active TB may also be HIV positive, HIV counseling and testing and case management services are offered as part of the DOT intervention. Culturally and linguistically adapted patient education is paramount for successful treatment adherence. A UMDNJ nursing student, under staff supervision, developed a teaching tool on TB and concurrent HIV disease. This tool, translated into a variety of languages, is an integral part of the culturally sensitive patient education program. |
