Community: A Case Study in Collaboration Between Researchers and Clinicians

Abstract This paper presents a practical guide for research-ers-academicians and clinicians who are considering the de-velopment of a collaborative community-based project. I t reports on a federally funded project developed by nurse-re-searchers at a large midwestern university and the nurse clinician directing home care services at the city health de-partment. The focus of this study is to determine the service needs and to evaluate the effectiveness of a case management protocol for persons who are positive for the human immu-nodeficiency virus and in need of home care. As treatments extend survival time for individuals infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) changes from an acute to a chronic disease, the locus of care is moving from inpatient to community and home-based settings. This shift raises a set of complex questions about the needs of HIV-positive individuals in the community and the delivery strategies that must be developed to address them. For example, what are the physical, emotional, and social needs of patient