Oral

An important component in the development and implementation of HIV programs is the community in which the program will be implemented. However, it can be a challenge for researchers/medical professionals to develop collaborative relationships with community stakeholders. The focus of this session is the successful collaborations among these two entities. The first presentation discusses a community-based particpatory research collaboration. The focus is on the findings from focus groups and key informant interviews that provided information regarding community needs, assets, and goals, and the application of this information to intervention implementation. In the second presentation, the presenter will describe the efficacy of a community-based particpatory HIV prevention program that involved youth. The focus of the third presentation is the identification of core HIV prevention outcomes that were obtained via a collaborative partnership with the community. In the fourth presentation, the author will describe the application of theory to the development of HIV capacity building that involved African American Clergy.

Session Objectives: 1. Identify the processes that can be employed to engage community stakeholders. 2. Discuss methods for facilitating partnerships and capacity building between researchers/ academicians and community stakeholders. 3. Identify potential measures to assess capacity building.

CE Credits: CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing