Linkage Coordinator at AIDS Healthcare Foundation

Job Summary:

The Linkage Coordinator is responsible for coordinating and strengthening HIV testing, referral, linkage, retention, and community support systems to ensure seamless access to HIV prevention, care, and treatment services. The role supports the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of referral and linkage processes between communities and health facilities, ensuring that newly identified people living with HIV (PLHIV) are successfully enrolled into care and retained on treatment. The incumbent works closely with healthcare workers, community-based organizations, faith-based organizations, support groups, and community structures to facilitate client follow-up, adherence support, positive health dignity and prevention (PHDP) interventions, and continuum of care services. The position also contributes to capacity building, community mobilization, data management, and reporting to improve program outcomes and strengthen HIV service delivery at both facility and community levels.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Contributes to the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of HIV referrals and linkage process at health facilities and community.
• Ensures synergy of all referral processes & track outcomes to and from health facilities and communities.
• Provides support to newly identified PLHIV on linkage processes, including assessment and mitigation of possible barriers to linkage.
• Conduct integrated community outreaches-to ensure linkage of testing and treatment programs.
• Ensures effective follow up by working closely with the HCT teams to facilitate follow up visits for HIV clients through home visit, phone call and text messages-adequately track process outcomes.
• Establish and facilitate community support groups for PLHIV; work closely with NEPHWAN / other CSOs groups to achieve synergy at State, LGA, health facility and community levels
• Facilitate the implementation of community adherence monitoring. 
• Ensures the effective implementation of Positive health dignity and prevention (PHDP) concepts-at the community level.
• Works closely with Health care workers, CBO/ FBO partners to ensure patients are carried along the continuum of care / retention.
• Facilitate assisted referral for newly identified PLHIV between community and facility systems and ensure client retention within the health facilities.
• Works closely with the testing teams to ensure patients are carried along the continuum of care / client retention.
• Ensures the implementation of strategic HIV referral / linkage protocols at the AHF health facilities.
• Contributes to capacity building for HCWs and staff of CBO partners with respect to referral and linkage process.
• Works closely with community structures such as the WDC, VHW, HC, CDGs.
• Ensure effective data management and supervise the process of appropriate data collection at the facility and community using appropriate data tools.
• Perform other duties as may be assigned as needed.

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, the individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.  The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. 

Education and/or Experience

• BSc, BA or any relevant qualifications.
• 2-3 years’ experience in providing HIV related services at community and health facilities.
• Experience with managing CBO partners a plus.

Language Skills

• Fluent in English.
• Ability to read, analyze, and interpret common scientific and technical journals, financial reports, and legal documents;
• Ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from customers and regulatory bodies.
• Ability to write speeches and articles for publication that conform to prescribed style and format. 

Other Skills and Abilities

• Ability to communicate well with patients in a healthcare center setting;
• Excellent customer service skills.