182220 Combining socio-spatial methods to understand social and physical environmental contributors to HIV risk in rural minority communities

Tuesday, October 28, 2008: 9:42 AM

Giselle Corbie-Smith, MD, MSc , TraCS Community Engagement Core, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Malika Roman Isler, MPH , Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
Ronald Strauss, DMD, PhD , Department of Dental Ecology, UNC at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
     
Mapping, photovoice and GIS have all been used to understand physical and social environmental contributors to risk and disease. As part of a larger study to increase accessibility to HIV/AIDS trials, we used a combination of community consultation, mapping, photography and GIS analysis to explore social and physical environmental contributors to HIV risk in rural minority communities.

In a mapping exercise, 13 members of our Community Advisory Board (CAB) identified and defined their concept of community and where they think HIV transmission most likely takes place in their communities (“hot spots”). Subsequent CAB meetings engaged participants in clarifying their choice of loci. Participants were then given maps and cameras to profile the social and physical environmental forces that facilitate transmission of HIV in this rural context. We triangulated the qualitative data with census and other GIS information on neighborhood characteristics (poverty rate, crime rate, employment typology, educational attainment, fitness/recreation sports centers per 100,000).

CAB members mapped 16 “hot spots” across 6 counties. Through photographs, CAB members identified activities and community characteristics they associated with HIV transmission loci. We will present the visual community-derived model of social and physical environmental contributors to HIV transmission in rural communities.

Triangulation of mapping, photovoice and GIS methods demonstrate the importance of a layered approach to understanding contributors to HIV risk in rural minority communities. This methodology allows for community advisors to provide insight into transmission settings and to enrich their narrative and visual perspective with existing census and other data about the settings.

Learning Objectives:
To discuss the importance of a multi-layered approach to understand contributors to HIV risk in rural communities To identify key social and physical environmental factors that facilitate HIV risk in rural communities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I conceptualized the study and study design, and have overseen the development of the research tools, data collection, and data analyses.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

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.

See more of: Extending the Borders: Creating Context for Introducing HIV/AIDS Clinical Trials to Southeastern Rural Communities
See more of: HIV/AIDS