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Health Care And Housing Are Human Rights 		 

Tuberculosis Resources
CASE REPORT tbComorbid TB and HIV in a Chronically Homeless Male: Social Isolation Compounds Stress of Medical Confinement (2006). This case report by HCH clinicians in Baltimore is a reminder that relationship building, coordination of care by multiple providers, and maintaining contact with homeless clients during and after medical confinement are key in assuring treatment adherence and progress toward resolving homelessness. It also points to the special vulnerabilities of homeless persons with infectious diseases, whose coping mechanisms may exacerbate their social isolation and interfere with efforts to provide appropriate medical care.

HEALING HANDS ARTICLES TUBERCULOSIS DRUG INFORMATION GUIDE TB guide photoThe Francis J. Curry National TB Center is proud to announce the publication of our new Tuberculosis Drug Information Guide. The Tuberculosis Drug Information Guide is derived from Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: A Survival Guide for Clinicians (2nd edition) produced in 2008 by the Francis J. Curry National Tuberculosis Center (CNTC) and the State of California Department of Public Health, Tuberculosis Control Branch (CDPH). Two additional drugs, ofloxacin and clarithromycin (which are used primarily outside of the US), have been included in this Guide. The twenty easy-to-use fact sheets can assist any physician, nurse, or pharmacist who participates in the management of patients with TB or LTBI. Francis J. Curry National Tuberculosis Center | 2009

TUBERCULOSIS INFECTION CONTROL: A PRACTICAL MANUAL FOR PREVENTING TB icccover Tuberculosis Infection Control: A Practical Manual for Preventing TB is available online, as a CD-ROM and as a book. The Tuberculosis Infection Control Manual is designed to provide information about TB infection control to homeless shelters, clinics, hospitals and others. It provides consistent and current information about the guidelines and regulations pertaining to TB infection control, methods of reducing the risk of TB infection, and facility-specific guidelines for reducing the risk and dealing with potential TB exposure. Previously, information about the potential risk of TB infection in various facilities, ways to reduce the risk of infection, and engineering details were provided in several Francis J. Curry National Tuberculosis Center products.
The following products were combined and updated to reflect the CDC's 2005 Guidelines for Preventing the Transmission of M. tuberculosis in Health-Care Settings to form this new manual:
  • Tuberculosis Exposure Control Plan: Template for the Clinic Setting
  • Conducting Sputum Induction Safely
  • Isolation Rooms: Design, Assessment and Upgrade
  • A Guideline for Establishing Effective Practices: Identifying Persons with Infectious TB in the Emergency Department
  • TB in Homeless Shelters: Reducing the Risk through Ventilation, Filters and UV
FORGING PARTNERSHIPS TO ELIMINATE TB The CDC's Division of TB Elimination has released Forging Partnerships to Eliminate TB: A Guide and Toolkit, to help TB programs create and sustain productive TB partnerships. Offered in print and CD ROM formats, Forging Partnerships emphasizes reaching and involving nontraditional partners in TB prevention and control efforts. The guide and toolkit enable staff to plan new intervention strategies and strengthen existing ones, with creativity, perseverance and the participation of productive partners. Chapters of the guide include topics such as: Structure and Decision Making Issues; Working with the Media and TB Stakeholders; Preparing Your Partnership to Communicate During a TB Outbreak; and Evaluating and Measuring Success. The toolkit includes checklists, worksheets, planning tools and easily adapted sample materials.

THE HEALTH CARE OF HOMELESS PERSONS This easy to use and read manual is designed for clinicians and shelter staff. Sections cover communicable diseases and infections, major medications, heat-related conditions and cold-related injuries, emerging challenges, management of chronic illnesses, immunizations, food management in shelters and soup kitchens, and fact sheets in English and Spanish for clients. The manual includes a chapter on tuberculosis.

POLICY & PRACTICE RECOMMENDATIONS Combating Tuberculosis & Homelessness: Recommendations for Policy & Practice, our May 1994 publication, is still relevant to the struggle against this significant health threat for homeless persons.

SHELTERS & TB: WHAT STAFF NEED TO KNOW, SECOND EDITION TBThe Francis J. Curry National Tuberculosis Center announces the release of Shelters and TB: What Staff Need to Know, second edition, which is available online to view or order. The contents of CD-ROM include an 18-minute video and viewer's guide (PDF) designed to help homeless shelter staff create a healthy and safe environment. This fundamental TB infection control information can help you and your staff prevent the spread of TB.

The video helps train staff about how to prevent the spread of TB in homeless shelters. It describes what TB is, how it is spread, what to do when you suspect someone has TB, how to develop and implement a TB infection control policy, and how you and your local health department can work together to create a healthy and safe environment for staff and clients. The accompanying viewer's guide expands on the content covered in the video and serves as a reference guide containing additional information, resources, templates, and checklists to help establish your shelter's TB infection control policy.

ADDITIONAL ONLINE RESOURCES