Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #105920

Laveta Moody-Thomas, MPH, CHES, LSW and Mark A. Colomb, PhD. Community REACH Project, My Brother's Keeper, Incorporated, 735 Avignon Drive, Suite # 1, Ridgeland, MS 39157, 601 898-0955, Ext. 102, lthomas@mbk-inc.org

Issues: African Americans are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS, especially in the Southern and Mid-Eastern regions of the United States. Barriers that are cultural, social economic, educational, and structural severely inhibit African American's access to HIV treatment and care. There was a need for the African American community to mobilize effectively to strengthen local HIV prevention efforts and impact HIV prevention policy. African American community based organizations (CBOs) needed capacity building assistance in community mobilization and community planning for HIV prevention.

Description: This oral session focuses on the five year implementation of an HIV prevention/intervention program designed to build the capacity of African American (CBOs) to effectively mobilize and plan HIV prevention efforts at the local level in Southern rural and urban African American communities. The program utilized an African and African American centered approach, encompassing factually accurate, culturally specific and culturally relevant capacity building assistance services that focused on delivery of skills building, information transfer, technology transfer, technical consultation and technical services. Other methods included conducting resource inventories, gap analysis, community organizing, action plan development and follow-up evaluation to ensure sustainability of the intervention.

Lessons Learned: Participants will learn about the guiding factors that led to the development, implementation, outcomes and impact of a culturally specific, community mobilization model that built the capacity of CBOs serving African Americans to impact health care decision making, public policy and support local prevention efforts.

Recommendations: Over a five year period, 290 CBOs were impacted in 16 states and D.C. CBOs in the targeted communities indicated an 80% increase in knowledge of new skills and enhanced support for HIV prevention activities, new coalitions and networks were immediately formed, new organizations created and new services developed as a result of the intervention.

Learning Objectives:

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• Participants will be able to discuss the importance of the role of culture in developing and implementing HIV prevention programs for targeted at risk populations. (
• Participants will be able to discuss the methods used to mobilize African American communities to affect changes in HIV policy and planning.

Keywords: Community-Based Public Health, HIV Interventions

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation