Africans For Improved Access Program, Multicultural AIDS Coalition, Boston, MA, United States.
UMass Chan Medical School, Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing, Worcester, MA, United States.
Front Public Health. 2024 Sep 20;12:1406397. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1406397. eCollection 2024.
Grassroots, community organizations are trusted resources within communities, which puts them in an ideal position to effectively engage individuals impacted by health inequities in defining meaningful research priorities. A community-centered approach to HIV research is critical for African immigrants living in the United States, who experience stigma and other socio-structural barriers to HIV prevention, care, and research engagement. Supporting community organizations with financial resources and capacity building activities to lead the development of research agendas ensures better alignment with community interests and fosters sustainability. We developed a community-initiated and -led research engagement project-Tulumbe!, which prioritized community leadership in all project activities. Community forums, health care provider and community questionnaires, interviews, and report-back sessions were held to examine the research interests and health concerns voiced by African immigrants. The iterative, community-led engagement process of more than 200 African immigrants, health providers, and researchers resulted in a community-defined research agenda with six areas of focus: family communication; self-efficacy for African immigrant women; deconstructing masculinity for African immigrant men; sexual health education for African immigrant youth; HIV stigma; and health literacy. Time, resources, and flexibility are needed to develop a viable community-led research partnership. Investing in community leadership not only produced a patient-centered research agenda but also led to community ownership of the process and results; thus, all partners were committed to sustaining the work.
基层组织和社区组织是社区内值得信赖的资源，这使它们能够处于有利位置，有效地让受健康不平等影响的个人参与到定义有意义的研究重点工作中。以社区为中心的方法对于生活在美国的非洲移民来说至关重要，因为他们在艾滋病毒预防、护理和研究参与方面面临着污名和其他社会结构障碍。为社区组织提供财政资源和能力建设活动，以领导研究议程的制定，这确保了更好地符合社区利益，并促进了可持续性。我们开发了一个由社区发起和主导的研究参与项目——Tulumbe！，该项目优先考虑社区在所有项目活动中的领导作用。举行了社区论坛、医疗服务提供者和社区问卷调查、访谈和报告会议，以研究非洲移民表达的研究兴趣和健康关注点。经过 200 多名非洲移民、医疗服务提供者和研究人员的反复、社区主导的参与过程，制定了一个以六个重点领域为中心的社区定义的研究议程：家庭沟通；非洲移民妇女的自我效能；解构非洲移民男性的男子气概；非洲移民青年的性健康教育；艾滋病毒污名；和健康素养。需要时间、资源和灵活性来建立可行的社区主导的研究伙伴关系。投资于社区领导不仅产生了以患者为中心的研究议程，而且还导致了社区对该过程和结果的拥有权；因此，所有合作伙伴都致力于维持这项工作。
