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Abstract #150596

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Giselle Corbie-Smith, MD, MSc¹, Melvin Muhammad, AA², Connie Blumenthal, MPH³, Selena Youmans, BA³, Doris Stith, BA², Arlinda Ellison, MS⁴, Adaora Adimora, MD, MPH⁵, Stacey W. Lloyd, BS³, Dionne M. Smith, PhD⁶, Mysha Wynn, MA⁷, Barbara Council², and Stacey Henderson, MEd⁸. (1) Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 725 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd., Campus Box 7590, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7590, (2) Community Enrichment Organization, P.O. Box 1475, Tarboro, NC 27886, (3) Cecil B. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 725 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd., Campus Box 7590, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, (919) 843-5760, connie_blumenthal@unc.edu, (4) Edgecombe County Health Department, 2909 Main St., Tarboro, NC 27886, (5) Division of Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 130 Mason Farm Rd, Campus Box 7030, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, (6) School of Public Health/ Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 4115-E McGavran Greenberg Hall, Campus Box 7440, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7440, (7) Project Momentum, Inc., P.O. Box 4053, Rocky Mount, NC 27803, (8) Educational, Research, & Technical Consultant, Project GRACE, P.O. Box 1, Rocky Mount, NC 27804

Issues: The Project GRACE Consortium (Growing, Reaching, Advocating for Change and Empowerment), a community-based participatory research (CBPR) collaboration, focuses on reducing the spread of HIV in African American communities. We describe the approach used in our partnership development as part of a planning project grant.

Description: Project GRACE uses a planned approach to partnership development: 1) initial mobilization - Central to the CBPR process is identifying and engaging key community members to ensure balanced representation of community perspectives; 2) establishment of organizational structure- A Steering Committee comprised of academic and community members drives the research, manages and conducts project related activities, emphasizing equal partnership, collective decision-making, and active participation; 3) capacity building for action- To raise individual and group skill level and strengthen capacity, members have participated in workshops on addressing “-isms” (e.g. sexism, racism, classism) and coalition building; and 4) planning for action- We use focus groups and key informant interviews to identify community needs, assets, goals, and to plan intervention implementation.

Lessons Learned: The approach adopted by Project GRACE resulted in effective engagement of community members. Consortium membership has increased from 15 to 57 members, with representation from over 35 community agencies. Eighty-two percent of steering committee members either reside or work in the two counties. Community members currently chair 5 of the 6 working committees, including the research design committee.

Recommendations: Planned and thoughtful approaches to CBPR can result in active participation by a range of stakeholders to address disparities in communities of color.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe an effective approach to identify and engage community stakeholders.
• Identify strategies for co-learning to strengthen capacity for academic-community partnerships.
• Understand the importance of building an organizational structure that empowers all members to become full partners in the research conducted.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

• Slides (pdf) or Handout