Denison Julie A, Pettifor Audrey, Mofenson Lynne M, Kasedde Susan, Marcus Rebecca, Konayuma Katongo J, Koboto Katlego, Ngcobo Mmangaliso Luyanda, Ndleleni Nokuthula, Pulerwitz Julie, Kerrigan Deanna
aJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland bUniversity of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, North Carolina cElizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, Washington, District of Columbia dUnited Nations Children's Fund, New York, New York, USA eThe Desmond Tutu HIV Centre, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa fThe Population Council, Washington DC gYouth Advocate, Zambia and Youth Advocate, Botswana.
AIDS. 2017 Jul 1;31 Suppl 3(Suppl 3):S195-S201. doi: 10.1097/QAD.0000000000001509.
The importance of youth engagement in designing, implementing and evaluating programs has garnered more attention as international initiatives seek to address the HIV crisis among this population. Adolescents, however, are not often included in HIV implementation science research and have not had opportunities to contribute to the development of HIV-related research agendas. Project Supporting Operational AIDS Research (SOAR), a United States Agency for International Development-funded global operations research project, involved youth living with HIV in a meeting to develop a strategic implementation science research agenda to improve adolescent HIV care continuum outcomes, including HIV testing and counseling (HTC) and linkage to care.
Project SOAR convened a 2-day meeting of 50 experts, including four youth living with HIV. Participants examined the literature, developed research questions, and voted to prioritize these questions for the implementation science research agenda. This article presents the process of involving youth, how they shaped the course of discussions, and the resulting priority research gaps identified at the meeting.
Youth participation influenced working group discussions and the development of the implementation science agenda. Research gaps identified included how to engage vulnerable adolescents, determining the role that stigma, peers, and self-testing have in shaping adolescent HTC behaviors, and examining the costs of different HTC and linkage to care strategies.
The meeting participants developed the research agenda to guide future implementation science research to improve HIV outcomes among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. This process highlighted the importance of youth in shaping implementation science research agendas and the need for greater youth engagement.
随着国际倡议致力于解决这一人群中的艾滋病毒危机，青年参与项目设计、实施和评估的重要性受到了更多关注。然而，青少年在艾滋病毒实施科学研究中并不常被纳入，也没有机会为艾滋病毒相关研究议程的制定做出贡献。由美国国际开发署资助的全球运营研究项目“支持艾滋病行动研究项目”（SOAR），让感染艾滋病毒的青年参加了一次会议，以制定一项战略实施科学研究议程，以改善青少年艾滋病毒护理连续结果，包括艾滋病毒检测与咨询（HTC）以及与护理的联系。
SOAR项目召开了一次为期两天的会议，有50名专家参加，其中包括四名感染艾滋病毒的青年。与会者查阅了文献，提出了研究问题，并投票确定这些问题在实施科学研究议程中的优先顺序。本文介绍了让青年参与的过程、他们如何影响讨论进程以及会议确定的优先研究差距。
青年参与影响了工作组的讨论和实施科学议程的制定。确定的研究差距包括如何让易受影响的青少年参与进来、确定耻辱感、同伴和自我检测在塑造青少年HTC行为方面所起的作用，以及研究不同HTC的成本和与护理的联系策略。
与会者制定了研究议程，以指导未来的实施科学研究，改善撒哈拉以南非洲青少年的艾滋病毒状况。这一过程凸显了青年在塑造实施科学研究议程方面的重要性以及加大青年参与力度的必要性。
