An ILI may or may not lead to testing, and all ILI clients seen outside of the counseling and testing site per se--whether they go on to get tested or not--are counted in process monitoring for ILIs. Clients who are counseled as part of pre-test counseling should not be counted as ILI clients. Counseling and test site clients are reported on the HIV counseling and testing report form.

"Outreach" is generally defined as educational interventions conducted face-to-face in places where clients congregate. For the purpose of the Evaluation Guidance, outreach solely for the purpose of getting clients into counseling and testing, should not be included under "Outreach."

The first page of the forms for intervention plan and process monitoring data for PCRS ("HIV-Infected Clients to Receive PCRS with CDC Funds" and "HIV-Infected Clients Who Received PCRS with CDC Funds," respectively) refers to HIV+ index cases. Page 2 of the process monitoring form for PCRS asks for data on the sex or needle sharing partners of HIV+ index cases.

The forms in the Evaluation Guidance for reporting intervention plan data as well as process monitoring data do not cover CTRPN and coalition building. It is suggested that you provide a narrative report that describes these efforts.

CDC funding, like all funding from Congress, cannot be used to lobby federal or local legislative bodies. CDC funds may not be used for propaganda purposes or for the preparation, distribution or use of such items as publications or radio or television presentations designed to support or defeat pending legislation.

However, CDC funding may be used for community-level interventions that seek to lessen risky conditions and behaviors in a community through a focus on the community as a whole. As the Evaluation Guidance points out, this is often done by attempting to alter social norms or characteristics of the environment. Such efforts are also referred to as "structural interventions" and may be funded with CDC cooperative agreement funding.

Specific questions regarding structural interventions and whether they meet funding requirements should be referred to project officers.

HIV/AIDS health education and risk reduction information provided to persons via a chatroom should be considered under "Other Interventions" on the forms for intervention plans and process monitoring. The intervention is not necessarily an individual-level intervention, according to the intervention types in the "Evaluation Guidance," since more than one individual is reached, and it’s not necessarily a group-level intervention or health communications and public information. Use the form for other interventions or provide a narrative description.

CDC’s guidelines on PCM are not mandates for how PCM should be implemented. For evaluation, use the definition of PCM in the Evaluation Guidance. This broader definition will include the definition found in CDC’s PCM guidance. As with all the intervention categories, national data about PCM will include some data from more rigorous implementation and some from less rigorous implementation. This is also true of ILI, GLI, and outreach interventions.

A variety of skills can be "built" during GLI (and ILI). If, for example, the skill is condom use and a phallic model is used to demonstrate how to fit a condom and at least one member of the group participates in the demonstration, the entire group can be considered as having participated in the skill building exercise. Critical thinking and decision-making skills are skills that can be enhanced during GLI. If these skills are discussed and demonstrated by members of the group through various exercises or activities, the entire group can be considered as having participated in the intervention.

As the Evaluation Guidance puts it, "CLI are interventions that seek to improve the risk conditions and behaviors in a community through a focus on the community as a whole, rather than by intervening with individuals or small groups. This is often done by attempting to alter social norms, policies, or characteristics of the environment. Examples include community mobilizations, social marketing campaigns, community-wide events, policy interventions, and structural interventions."

Social marketing is the application of commercial technologies to the planning and implementation of prevention programs. Social marketing is not social advertising, social education, attitude change, or socially responsible marketing of HIV prevention messages. Examples of social marketing programs at CDC include the "America Responds to AIDS" campaign and the "5-A-Day Nutrition" campaign.

The definition above of CLI indicates that it does not focus on individuals or small groups whereas outreach, ILI, and GLI do focus on individuals and small groups. If a grantee employs a set of related but distinct interventions working toward a common goal, it is appropriate to "deconstruct" that program into its component elements and report on each intervention separately for intervention plan and process monitoring data.

An intervention that counsels couples and includes skill building and service brokerage should probably be categorized as GLI (the intervention could be considered PCM if it meets the criteria for PCM established by the health department or grantee or if it is carried out in accordance with CDC’s guidance on PCM). In this example, "counseling" refers to HIV/AIDS prevention counseling, not mental health counseling. Skills building (not service brokerage) must be a part of GLI. If there is no skills building, then the intervention cannot be categorized as GLI. Service brokerage is not considered a necessary component of GLI. It is, however, a necessary component of PCM.

Condom drop-off activities should be recorded under "Other Interventions" because they do not readily fit under any other intervention type. For example, "Outreach" is not appropriate because there is no face-to-face contact with clients. "Health Communications/Public Information" is not appropriate because no information is conveyed by the drop-off activities. When interventions are reported as "Other," the intervention should be explained.

The recipients of the printed materials distributed by health departments do not affect the intervention type that should be used for reporting. The intervention type is "Health Communications/Public Information" (print media distribution).

If outreach develops into an intervention that meets the criteria for ILI, then both intervention types should be reported.