The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #50143

Alicia Beatty, MA and Malikah Andrews, MS. The Circle of Care, Family Planning Council, 260 S. Broad Street, Suite 1000, Philadelphia, PA 19102, 2159852603, alicia@familyplanning.org

HIV positive minority women are considered by many community planning groups and service providers to be a difficult population to involve in prioritization, planning, and evaluation process. This Ryan White Title IV provider network counts ten successful years of involving consumers at all levels in the organization. Consumers and providers have identified lessons learned through this collaboration. Meaningful consumer involvement requires: continual communication and contact; providing forums for consumers to feel valued, to know their opinion count, and to see results from their participation. Providers should be prepared for a long-term commitment, and have the capacity to not take episodes of non-participation personally, understand that different consumers value different experiences, and be prepared to both challenged and rewarded.

Learning Objectives: At the end of the presentation, participants will be able to

(
• list five ways to engage consumers in planning, implementation, and evaluation of program; (
• describe how to recruit and retain consumers involved in these activities; (
• identify ten potential barriers to meaningful consumer participation and ways to overcome them

Keywords: Women and HIV/AIDS, Community Involvement

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: The Circle of Care
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.