Adjournment in Community HIV Prevention: Exploring Transitions in Community–Academic Partnerships

Abstract

Barbershop-based interventions have been increasingly implemented as a means to support culturally relevant and community-accessible health promotion and disease prevention efforts. Specifically, in neighborhoods of Brooklyn, New York, with high HIV seroprevalence rates, barbers have volunteered to support an initiative to help reduce sexual risk behavior. After implementing the Barbershop Talk With Brothers program for 5 years, we explored how program participation has affected barbers’ HIV prevention and counseling skills to promote their clients’ health, and assessed their views of next stages of the community–academic partnership, once the specific project ended. Through employing rigorous qualitative research methods with personnel at participating barbershops, key results include that although barbers self-identify as community leaders and even as health educators, they want ongoing support in educating customers about other topics like nutrition and physical activity, including upstream social determinants of health, such as housing and employment. They are also concerned regarding how best to support continuity of efforts and maintenance of partnerships between projects. These findings provide insight toward adjourning community-based participatory research projects, which can inform other academic researchers, organizations, and businesses that partner with community members.

Perceptions, Beliefs, and Experiences of Asians and Micronesian Islanders on Family Health History Genetic Cancer Screening Community Outreach

“…A strength in our qualitative description pilot study is the academic and community-engaged research approach to advance understanding on community education outreach regarding family health history GCS. Engaging with community partners as stakeholders early in the research design planning can help to amplify their voices throughout the research process [31][32][33]. In our study, we worked together as academic and community partners and developed the study purpose; outreach and recruitment approach; semi-structured, open-ended interview guide; engaged in concurrent data analysis and interpretation; debriefing; and wrote this article.…”

Essential Engagement as the First Step in Gaining Entrée into the Laotian American Community on Cervical Cancer Screening

“…The Washington State University Office of Research Assurances has certified exemption (17824-001) for this project. The project team drew on research evidence regarding leveraging strengths from academic teams and CCLs and culturally sensitive interactions with Asian communities as a guide to the essential engagement as the first step in gaining entrée to the Laotian American community (Bourassa et al, 2020;Dill et al, 2020;Hoekstra et al, 2020;1 Nguyen-Truong, 1 Fritz et al, 2018;Nguyen-Truong et al, 2017;Wallenstein et al, 2018). The essential engagement step included trust and rapport building, conveying respectful and authentic intentions on a shared mission of learning about CC screening in LAW, and time needed for building connections and multiple conversations with CCLs in the Laotian American community.…”

“…Thus, meaningful cultural immersion experiences for students, colearning, and scholarly work practices are crucial for relationship building and practice (Thackrah, a Hall, Fitzgerald, & Thompson, 2017). Dill et al (2020) found that engaging with community stakeholders early in the project design planning ensures their voices are amplified in the process. Academic and community stakeholders' interactions may impact the engagement, colearning, project continuity, and cultural immersion experience.…”

“…The Laotian American cultural community leaders (CCLs) in the Pacific Northwest expressed to our academic project team at Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine and the College of Nursing that the Laotian American community is a private ethnic group wary of those from the outside and particularly researchers. Research evidence points to the importance of meaningful stakeholder engagement in scholarly work (Bourassa et al, 2020;Dill et al, 2020;Hoekstra et al, 2020;1 Nguyen-Truong, 1 Fritz et al, 2018;Nguyen-Truong, Tang, & Hsiao, 2017;Wallenstein, Duran, Oetzel, & Minkler, 2018). The purpose of this brief article is to describe the first essential engagement step of relationship building between the academic project team and Laotian American CCLs to gain entrée to the Laotian American community regarding a sensitive topic on gynecologic health.…”

Wilson and Fraser Respond

“…Of note, in a series of interviews conducted after the intervention, barbers also discussed the importance of an emphasis on social determinants of health, including housing, food, and employment. 1 Collaboration on these social determinants is an important area for innovation, and we look forward to extending work in these directions and to learning from other groups and coalitions as they work to ensure health equity both within and outside the walls of traditional clinical and public health organizations.…”