WHEN ORGANIZATIONS...
in Cedar Rapids, New York, or Topeka want to support and celebrate caregivers, they turn to The Health Cares Exchange Initiative, Inc. (HCEI), an educational public charity focused on capacity building and burnout prevention.

MISSION... Founded in Boston in 1992, HCEI's mission  is to create supportive inclusive networks for caregivers, including AIDS caregivers, in diversely affected geographic areas and then foster information and personnel exchanges between them. HCEI works to encourage caregiver collaboration, enhance community-based care, and educate caregivers about stress management.

CAREGIVERS AND STRESS...
Burnout can be a very real danger for all caregivers. Stigma has caused many traditional support systems for persons with AIDS to disappear. Client mortality, changing technology, isolation and even new drug treatments have created great stress for caregivers. Turnover in staff and volunteers creates gaps in expertise and compassion. Today, many caregivers question their resources.

LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER...
Although AIDS continues to have its greatest impact on cities, approximately 20 percent of cases occur in rural areas. While each community responds to AIDS differently, consumer needs such as mental health, treatments, and nutrition are often the same. AIDS caregivers benefit from periodic gatherings with peers to exchange information on services, solutions, and resources. And, persons with AIDS live longer when caregivers provide comprehensive, community-based services.

A SOLID FOUNDATION...
HCEI has created voluntary networks for paid and non-paid AIDS caregivers in Boston, Kansas, New York, Iowa, Minneapolis, and Michigan. HCEI was the first organization to hold nationwide focus groups to determine and document the experiences and needs of AIDS caregivers. From this, a unique stress management workshop was developed and presented to organizations from Minnesota to New York. A wide variety of caregivers, HIV-related and otherwise, have benefited from these workshops.

Led by HCEI, caregivers from Iowa have visited Boston for information exchanges with peers and consumers and, in turn, providers in the Midwest have collaborated with a visiting AIDS specialist from Boston. Additionally, rural caregivers from Kansas participated in HCEI's capacity building workshop which received enthusiastic media coverage.

WORKING WITH YOU...
HCEI offers a variety of services, programs, and technical assistance which empowers your caregivers and addresses regional issue and needs. We invite you to work with us as we support and celebrate caregivers in your communities.

For more Info, Click Icon FOCUS GROUPS

Focus groups are conducted by professional, trained facilitators using the HCEI Moderator's Guide. These groups provide articulate, up-to-date, and geographically specific information useful in future program planning.

Workshop Agenda, Click Icon STRESS MANAGEMENT WORKSHOPS

Using data gathered from the original focus groups, HCEI created a hands-on Stress Management Workshop which has been utilized by the Departments of Public Health in Kansas, Florida and Minnesota, and by conferences and audiences across the nation. These workshops identify participant stress and then provide writing, massage, and relaxation exercises appropriate for any audience.

Workshop Agenda, Click Icon CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOPS

When AIDS caregivers expressed a need to feel connected, HCEI developed Capacity Building Workshops. Using a roundtable discussion format developed by HCEI, rural caregivers convened in Lawrence, Kansas, in mid-1999 for a day-long exchange of information on topics such as building community involvement, AIDS and spirituality, and stress management. Networks were created, and subsequent feedback confirmed that stress management skills and dedication to caregiving increased.

For more Info, Click Icon CAREGIVER EXCHANGES

Response to AIDS varies from place to place, but the impact on consumers and their caregivers is basically the same. HCEI organizes and hosts one-day to four-day visitations between AIDS caregivers in diverse geographic areas, creating a unique opportunity for team building and information exchange in a non-conference setting. Coordinated teams of caregivers from moderately impacted parts of Iowa have visited Boston for week long HCEI Exchanges, sharing information on the widest possible variety of issues. Participants return home with a renewed sense of mission and collaborations between organizations and regions have been significantly enhanced.

HCEI'S ORIGINS - STAFF

After moving to Boston in 1987 and volunteering with local AIDS organizations, HCEI Founder R. Scott Boots began to compare notes about resources in his native Iowa. The Health Cares Exchange Initiative, Inc. was founded in 1992. Without formal funding, HCEI built networks and held focus groups nationwide, while the HCEI office consisted of a voicemail, post office box, and two filing cabinets.

A graduate of Interlochen Center for the Arts and the University of Iowa, Scott has studied wellness at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Mind-Body Clinic and massage at the Touch Therapy Institute in Cambridge. He has given HCEI Stress Management Workshops to caregivers from the Midwest to the East Coast and presented at the 1997 United States Conference on AIDS. In addition, Scott has served as Chair of the AIDS Support Committee and Co-Chair of Pastoral Ministry at Trinity Church in the City of Boston.