scholarly journals Effectively Confronting the COVID-19 Pandemic: Critical Lessons From HIV Prevention, Care, and Treatment and Innovative Strategies to Conduct Community-Based and Community-Engaged Research Safely

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 455-471
Author(s):  
Scott D. Rhodes ◽  
Francisco S. Sy
Keyword(s):  
Hiv Prevention ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Research Implementation ◽  
Innovative Strategies ◽  
Community Engaged Research ◽  
Care And Treatment ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Improve Health

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new infectious disease caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly altered the ways in which members of communities live, learn, work, and play. Similarly, the pandemic has affected the conduct of community-based and community-engaged research, which are essential research approaches to promoting health equity, reducing health disparities, and improving community and population health. In this commentary, we outline nine lessons from HIV prevention, care, and treatment that are particularly relevant to reducing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also identify ten innovative strategies to reduce exposure to SARS-CoV-2 among teams and community members conducting community-based and community-engaged research. Implementation of these strategies will help to ensure these research approaches can safely continue during the pandemic and that communities and populations continue to benefit from research designed to promote equity, reduce disparities, and improve health.

scholarly journals Community-Engaged Research as an Approach to Expedite Advances in HIV Prevention, Care, and Treatment: A Call to Action

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 243-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott D. Rhodes ◽  
Amanda E. Tanner ◽  
Lilli Mann-Jackson ◽  
Jorge Alonzo ◽  
Danielle N. Horridge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hiv Prevention ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
Trust Building ◽  
Call To Action ◽  
Community Engaged Research ◽  
Hiv Epidemic ◽  
The World ◽  
Care And Treatment ◽  
Hiv Disparities ◽  
The Impact

Throughout the world, we continue to face profound challenges to reducing the impact of the HIV epidemic. Community-engaged research has emerged as an approach to increase our understanding of HIV and reduce health disparities, increase health equity, and promote community and population health. Our partnership has conducted more than 25 community-engaged research studies in the U.S. and Guatemala, and members have identified nine themes to facilitate community-engaged research and expedite advances in HIV prevention, care, and treatment. These themes include the inclusion of multisectoral partners, trust building and maintenance, the alignment of partner priorities, a can-do attitude, capacity and desire to move beyond service and conduct research, flexibility, power sharing, empowerment, an assets orientation, the shared and timely use of findings, and a stepwise approach. To reduce HIV disparities, community-engaged research is as critical now as ever, and we desperately need to reinvigorate our commitment to and support of it.

Combating IPV With Community Leaders in Honduras: An Evaluation of an IPV Training Program Among Teachers and Health Professionals

2021 ◽  
pp. 107780122110089
Author(s):  
Chunrye Kim ◽  
Joel A. Capellan ◽  
Hung-En Sung ◽  
Eduardo Rafael Orellana
Keyword(s):  
Training Program ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Partner Violence ◽  
Intimate Partner ◽  
Educational Opportunities ◽  
Safety Planning ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Confidence Levels ◽  
The Impact

Intimate partner violence (IPV) among women in Latin America, including Honduras, is serious. To help IPV victims, a community-based educational program has been implemented. This study aims to examine the impact of IPV training among teachers and health care professionals ( n = 160) on increases in IPV knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy when dealing with IPV victims using a pretest and posttest design. We found that the treatment group who received IPV training showed significantly lower justification for IPV, higher gender equality attitudes, and higher IPV knowledge as well as higher confidence levels in identifying IPV victims and safety planning for victims. We concluded that the IPV training program using the community-based approaches has the potential to help IPV victims in Honduras. More efforts should be made to increase the educational opportunities the community members can receive.

scholarly journals “I Feel Like We’re Going Backwards:” Post-Presidential Election Resilience in Latinx Community Members

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 16-33
Author(s):  
Melissa L. Morgan Consoli ◽  
Andrés J. Consoli ◽  
Alyssa Hufana ◽  
Adriana Sanchez ◽  
Emily Unzueta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Election ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Research Level ◽  
National Leaders ◽  
Election Results ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The U.S

The 2016 U.S. presidential election brought many reactions on a global scale. World leaders, national leaders, and everyday citizens experienced intense emotions on varying levels. Latinx communities in the U.S., specifically, were impacted significantly, with rhetoric about immigration and issues regarding border security (i.e., build a wall). While much about these sentiments have been reported at the journalistic level, little has been published at the research level to date: specifically, how Latinx community members reacted on an individual level, how they confronted concerns related to fear and adversities (i.e., their resilience), and what the impact may be for their future. The current study employs a community-based, qualitative approach that involved conducting semi-structured focus groups with self-identified Latinx community members in a U.S., West Coast town. Participants were asked about their emotions and reactions, as well as plans regarding the results of the election. Emergent themes included three broad categories: (1) perspectives on the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election; (2) observed impacts of the U.S. presidential election, and (3) ways of dealing with the election results. Sub and tertiary thematic categories were also identified.

scholarly journals Successful integration of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis into a community-based HIV prevention program for female sex workers in Kolkata, India

2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 638-647
Author(s):  
Smarajit Jana ◽  
Protim Ray ◽  
Soma Roy ◽  
Abhijit Kadam ◽  
Raman R Gangakhedkar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hiv Prevention ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Prevention Program ◽  
Female Sex Workers ◽  
Community Support ◽  
Final Visit ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Female Sex ◽  
Exposure Prophylaxis ◽  
The Impact

We assessed the impact of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in the context of a community-based HIV program among female sex workers (FSWs) in Kolkata, India. This was an open-label, uncontrolled demonstration trial. HIV seronegative FSWs over 18 years were eligible. Participants were administered daily tenofovir/emtricitabine (TDF-FTC) with follow-up visits at months 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15. Drug adherence was monitored by self-report, and a random subset of participants underwent plasma TDF testing. 843 women were screened and 678 enrolled and started on PrEP. Seventy-nine women (11%) did not complete all scheduled visits: four women died of reasons unrelated to PrEP and 75 withdrew, for a 15-month retention rate of 89%. Self-reported daily adherence was over 70%. Among those tested for TDF, the percentage of women whose level reached ≥40 ng/mL was 65% by their final visit. There were no HIV seroconversions, and no evidence of significant changes in sexual behavior. This study demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of PrEP for FSWs in Kolkata, with very high levels of adherence to PrEP and no HIV seroconversions. The integration of PrEP into an existing community-based HIV prevention program ensured community support and facilitated adherence.

scholarly journals Power Dynamics in Community-Based Participatory Research: A Multiple–Case Study Analysis of Partnering Contexts, Histories, and Practices

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 19S-32S ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Wallerstein ◽  
Michael Muhammad ◽  
Shannon Sanchez-Youngman ◽  
Patricia Rodriguez Espinosa ◽  
Magdalena Avila ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Participatory Research ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Community Based Participatory Research ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Health Study ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Community Based ◽  
The Impact

Community-based participatory research has a long-term commitment to principles of equity and justice with decades of research showcasing the added value of power-sharing and participatory involvement of community members for achieving health, community capacity, policy, and social justice outcomes. Missing, however, has been a clear articulation of how power operates within partnership practices and the impact of these practices on outcomes. The National Institutes of Health–funded Research for Improved Health study (2009-2013), having surveyed 200 partnerships, then conducted seven in-depth case studies to better understand which partnership practices can best build from community histories of organizing to address inequities. The diverse case studies represented multiple ethnic–racial and other marginalized populations, health issues, and urban and rural areas and regions. Cross-cutting analyses of the qualitative results focus on how oppressive and emancipatory forms of power operate within partnerships in response to oppressive conditions or emancipatory histories of advocacy within communities. The analysis of power was conducted within each of the four domains of the community-based participatory research conceptual model, starting from how contexts shape partnering processes to impact short-term intervention and research outputs, and contribute to outcomes. Similarities and differences in how partnerships leveraged and addressed their unique contexts and histories are presented, with both structural and relational practices that intentionally addressed power relations. These results demonstrate how community members draw from their resilience and strengths to combat histories of injustice and oppression, using partnership principles and practices toward multilevel outcomes that honor community knowledge and leadership, and seek shared power, policy, and community transformation changes, thereby advancing health equity.

scholarly journals The Contribution of Community Education towards Minimizing the Spread of COVID-19: Ethnographic Research Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 32-41
Author(s):  
Avhurengwi Samson Mabade
Keyword(s):  
Community Education ◽  
Community Leadership ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Qualitative Technique ◽  
The Government ◽  
Almost All ◽  
The Impact

Although the Government put protocols in place to minimize the spread of COVID-19, it remains the community’s obligation to adhere to the protocols and drive reform. It is the community’s responsibility to communicate succinctly and elegantly all the protocols in a morally unobjectionable manner. It is however a community-based problem although it is a worldwide pandemic to be fought holistically. Unless an individual community understands the impact of COVID-19 in the community, community members would hardly understand its impact in the entire community. If community members could heed the super spreading ways, almost all community members would advise one another on the best ways to mitigate the spread of this pandemic. The transformation brought about by community itself would result the transformation of each community member. Community leadership remains responsible to advocate this community education. The researcher adopted an Ethnographic Research Approach to provide an in-depth description of community members towards adhering to the protocols in place for minimizing the spread of this horrifying and deadly disease. The researcher employed qualitative technique for the collection of data. The responses of the community members were audio recorded and transcribed by the researcher and then analyzed for presentation as a report.

scholarly journals Development of a self-directed, online-learning curriculum to increase community-engaged research in clinical and translational science

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joyce E. Balls-Berry ◽  
Heather Billings ◽  
Laura Ernste ◽  
Miguel Valdez Soto ◽  
Katrin Frimannsdottir ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Medical Research ◽  
Educational Needs ◽  
Translational Science ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Community Engaged Research ◽  
Health Community ◽  
Improve Health

BackgroundMedical research strives to improve health; community-engaged research (CEnR) supports translation to the community.MethodsThis article describes the use of andragogical theory to develop asynchronous CEnR training.ResultsA total of 43 researchers and community members completed at least one module. The majority (67%–100%) stated that training met their educational needs and noted a desire for more information.ConclusionThe curriculum reinforced CEnR principles to enhance medical research.

scholarly journals 2437

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (S1) ◽  
pp. 28-28
Author(s):  
Deepthi S. Varma ◽  
Jasmine Mack ◽  
Linda Cottler
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Medical Services ◽  
Grocery Stores ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Community Based ◽  
The Impact

OBJECTIVES/SPECIFIC AIMS: Depression is one of the leading causes of diseases and disability among women of all ages in the United States. Lack of resources to meet one’s daily needs, access to health care, job opportunities, and drug use significantly contribute to depression among women. This paper aimed to explore the determinants of depression among women from a large community-based sample. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: HealthStreet is a community engagement research initiative at the University of Florida that utilizes the community health worker (CHW) model to assess health concerns and conditions of community members and link them to available social and medical services and health research. From October 2011 through December 2016, CHWs assessed 8469 community members from various locations in the community such as grocery stores, bus stops, health fairs, laundromats, and others. Among these 8469 participants contacted and assessed by the CHWs, 4952 (58.5%) were women. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Of the total 8469 participants, 4952 were women and 1839 (37.1%) reported ever having depression. Mean age of women who reported depression was 44.1 years (SD±14.4). Women who were current users of 3 or more drugs were 10 times more likely (95% CI: 5.73, 18.40; OR 10.27) to report depression compared with those who did not currently use any drugs. Those who were food insecure in the past 12 months (95% CI: 1.970, 2.576; OR 2.253) were twice more likely to report depression, while never married (95% CI: 0.576, 0.771; OR 0.666), and currently unemployed (95% CI: 0.535, 0.715; OR 0.619) women were less likely to report depression. Chronic health conditions such as hypertension (41.6% vs. 33.7%), diabetes (14% vs. 10.5%), and cancer (12.1% vs. 8.3%), and comorbid psychiatric symptoms such as anxiety (54.2% vs. 10.8%) and bipolar disorder (23.8% vs. 2.8%) were significantly higher (p<0.001) among women with depression compared with their counterparts. Significantly more women without a history of depression had medical insurance (68.8% vs. 64.3%) as compared with women with depression. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE OF IMPACT: Depression was associated with food insecurity and drug use. The impact of drug use continues to be a major mental health concern among community-based women. Further, these findings emphasize the importance of community engagement programs such as HealthStreet, which utilizes the CHWs’ model to link community members to social and medical services within the community, in improving the mental health of women.

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