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HIV Prevention in a Rural Community: Project GRACE—A Multigenerational Approach to Community Engagement

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Innovations in HIV Prevention Research and Practice through Community Engagement

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Abstract

The burden of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is disproportionate for the African-American community. The Project GRACE (Growing, Reaching, Advocating for Change and Empowerment) Consortium is an ongoing community–academic partnership based in eastern North Carolina that was established to address the disproportionately high rates of HIV among the African-American/black population in two eastern North Carolina counties. In this chapter, we explore the impact that the HIV and STI epidemics have had on African-American communities in the southeastern USA in general and within rural communities in North Carolina specifically. We highlight the unique ways in which community members were engaged in the formation of the Project GRACE Consortium; the development, implementation, and evaluation of the multigenerational HIV-prevention intervention known as Teach One Reach One (TORO) that was born out of this community–academic partnership; the lessons learned throughout the community engagement process; and recommendations for future research. We also describe research needs and priorities in terms of prevention and community engagement.

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Acknowledgment

The authors would like to acknowledge and thank all members of the Project GRACE Consortium, past and present, for their contributions to the development and implementation of this intervention.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 160 N. Medical Drive, Campus Box 7064, 27599, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Arlinda Ellison MS & Adina Black BA

  2. Magee-Women’s Hospital Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 300 Halket Street, 15213, Pittsburg, PA, USA

    Aletha Akers MD, MPH

  3. Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, Yale University, 135 College Street, Suite 200, 06510-2483, New Haven, CT, USA

    Tashuna Albritton PhD, MSW

  4. NC Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, 225 N. McDowell Street, 1902 MSC, 27601, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Stepheria Hodge-Sallah MPH

  5. Project Momentum, Inc., P. O. Box 4053, 27803, Rocky Mount, NC, USA

    Mysha Wynn MAEd

  6. Ellis Research & Consulting Service, LLC, 3514 Whetstone Place, 27896, Wilson, NC, USA

    Danny Ellis PhD, MBA

  7. Department of Social Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, 333 S. Columbia Street, 27599, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Giselle Corbie-Smith MD

Authors
  1. Arlinda Ellison MS
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  2. Aletha Akers MD, MPH
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  3. Adina Black BA
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  4. Tashuna Albritton PhD, MSW
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  5. Stepheria Hodge-Sallah MPH
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  6. Mysha Wynn MAEd
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  7. Danny Ellis PhD, MBA
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  8. Giselle Corbie-Smith MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Arlinda Ellison MS .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA

    Scott D. Rhodes

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Ellison, A. et al. (2014). HIV Prevention in a Rural Community: Project GRACE—A Multigenerational Approach to Community Engagement. In: Rhodes, S. (eds) Innovations in HIV Prevention Research and Practice through Community Engagement. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0900-1_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0900-1_2

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  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-0900-1

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