Title

We’re engaged! Strategies for enhancing community-researcher relationships

Code

MOSY01

Session Type

Symposia Session

Venue

Palacio de Valparaíso 2

Date Time

Monday 22 July, 11:00 - 12:30

Co-Chairs:

Bruno Spire, ORS-INSERM, France
Sangram Kishor Patel, Population Council, India

This session will examine a range of issues related to the engagement of communities in HIV research, including better understanding of who and what communities are and how they operate in the HIV landscape, community perceptions and willingness to participate in research, and novel strategies for greater understanding and engagement of underrepresented groups in research.

11:00 MOSY0101	Introduction

11:05 MOSY0103	How the perspectives of people living with HIV influence (or don’t) the design of clinical research: The case of HIV cure Karine Dubé, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, United States

11:20 MOSY0104	Expanding Community Engagement in HIV Clinical Trials: A Pilot Study Using Crowdsourcing Suzanne Day, Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, United States	Slides

11:35 MOSY0105	Community mobilization, effective involvement and ownership in HIV prevention research Ntando Yola, Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation, South Africa	Slides

11:50 MOSY0105LB	Community-led delivery of HIV self-testing targeting adolescents and men in rural Malawi: a cluster-randomised trial Pitchaya P. Indravudh, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom	Abstract Slides

12:05 MOSY0106	Questions and answers

12:10 MOSY0107	Closing remarks

AUTHOR

Arantxa Colchero

SUMMARY

Presenters at this session showed several challenges, questions and recommendations related to the engagement of communities in HIV research. Two presentations involved research in clinical trials.

HIGHLIGHTS

Karine Dubé underlined the challenges faced by people living with HIV/AIDS on the understanding of cure, treatment effectiveness, knowledge on transmission, preferences on ART regimes and the need to communicate simple messages for the community to get involved in research. Susane Day compared two methods for communication and feedback on processes in a clinical trial: traditional feedback versus crowdsourcing. She concluded that combining both provides a broader range of stakeholders to inform HIV clinical trials. Ntando Yola highlighted the importance of engaging the communities in research and accepting that there is a wide variety of profiles that need to get involved. Pitchaya P. Indravudh showed results from a community-led HIV self-testing in Malawi. Community led HIV self-testing was more effective in uptake, reached more adolescents, men, older adults and couples.

CRITICAL ASSESSMENT

Presentations in the session were heterogenous in their objectives and in-depth analyses. Community participation in research, in the design and process evaluation of an intervention and in strategies to increase uptake in HIV testing seems crucial.