Connecting to protect: Implications of a CBPR approach to illustrate geospatial patterns of adolescent HIV/STI risk indicators

The utility of geospatial mapping provides depictions of disease prevalence, incidence, and social determinants of health. HIV/STI morbidity clusters in ethnic and racial minority communities stricken by poverty, low socioeconomic status, and crime. The Memphis, TN research Coalition utilized a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach to create Geographical Information Systems (GIS) maps assessing these elements. This abstract aims to describe the CBPR process and to discuss implications for integrating GIS results into community-based HIV/STI prevention strategies. The Coalition engaged the School of Public Health and the Health Department (SCHD) to create GIS maps depicting HIV/STI morbidity among adolescents, homicides, and female-headed households. HIV/STI rates were aggregated by zip code over a five year period and compared to geospatial maps depicting morbidity rates from previous years. Homicide case counts and the percentage of female headed households were mapped by census block groups. Zip codes disproportionately affected by HIV/STI rates in 2002-2005 also were identified as the zip codes with the highest classification of HIV/STI morbidity between 2006-2010. In these same zip codes, other indicators of risk included household poverty and high rates of homicide. CBPR approaches are essential to assess a range of data sources to understand determinants of HIV/STI risk. Coalition partners will modify its practice to include use of GIS mapping to more effectively allocate resources such as targeted testing initiatives and to further assist with behavioral intervention development.