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Abstract #154104

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Jennifer Sarah Tiffany, PhD, Director, HIV/AIDS Education Project, Cornell University, Family Life Development Center, Beebe Hall, First Floor, Ithaca, NY 14853, 607-255-1942, jst5@cornell.edu, Maricela Brea, Project Reach Youth, Inc., 456 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215, John J. Eckenrode, PhD, Director, Family Life Development Center, Cornell University, Beebe Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853, Ellen Kate Friedrichs, HIV Program Coordinator, Citizens Advice Bureau - ADP, 1130 Grand Concourse, 1st Floor, Bronx, NY 10456, Rachael M. Peters, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, Allan Rosenfield Building, New York, NY 10032, Candia Richards-Clarke, Bronx AIDS Services, Inc., 1910 Arthur Avenue, 6th floor, Bronx, NY 10457, Danny Stewart, MA, MSW, Director, HIV/AIDS Services, Streetwork Project, Safe Horizon, 545 8th Avenue, 22nd Floor, New York, NY 10018, and Thomas Tallon, Director, Adolescent HIV Prevention Services, New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute, Corning Tower, Room 384, Albany, NY 12237.

Issues: Engaging young people in HIV prevention efforts is crucial to stemming the global epidemic. Many programs have developed innovative participatory strategies for involving youth. However, few studies have researched the relationship between youth engagement in participatory HIV prevention programs and HIV risk reduction. Description: Our community-based participatory research partnership includes four community based adolescent HIV prevention programs, a state Department of Health and a university. Youth program participants between the ages of 13 and 24 piloted a survey regarding program participation characteristics, social connectedness, and HIV risk reduction. Data interpretation sessions sought to promote youth voice and adult-youth dialogue. Lessons learned: Youth and program staff were highly engaged in the research and data interpretation process and in the revision of research instruments. Including partners with diverse institutional roles (youth program participants and staff, state agency staff, and university based researchers) resulted in enhanced commitment, learning, and immediate opportunities for application of findings. Recommendations: We recommend the following practices for participatory studies of youth HIV prevention programs: 1) Provide tangible incentives to youth participants at the same time as fostering their intrinsic interest in the research process; 2) Develop infrastructure to allow rapid preliminary data analysis; 3) Organize timely community-based data interpretation sessions; 4) Develop processes for translation of research findings into program activities; 5) Encourage understanding and appropriation of the research process by participants; 6) Design flexible modes of participation for youth and frontline staff; and 7) Create opportunities for working sessions that spark dialogue among stakeholder groups.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify strategies and processes for using youth-adult partnerships as a component of participatory research on HIV prevention;
• In particular, identify effective practices for engaging youth in research partnerships;
• Discuss the benefits and challenges of community-based participatory research processes for engaging multiple stakeholders;
• Examine strategies for translating research into practice generated by collaboration among diverse stakeholders.

Keywords: Adolescents, HIV/AIDS

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