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No “Magic Bullet”: Exploring Community Mobilization Strategies Used in a Multi-site Community Based Randomized Controlled Trial: Project Accept (HPTN 043)

AIDS and Behavior volume 16, pages 1217–1226 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

As community-level interventions become more common in HIV prevention, processes such as community mobilization (CM) are increasingly utilized in public health programs and research. Project Accept, a multi-site community randomized controlled trial, is testing the hypothesis that CM coupled with community-based mobile voluntary counseling and testing and post-test support services will alter community norms and reduce the incidence of HIV. By using a multiple-case study approach, this qualitative study identifies seven major community mobilization strategies used in Project Accept, including stakeholder buy-in, formation of community coalitions, community engagement, community participation, raising community awareness, involvement of leaders, and partnership building, and describes three key elements of mobilization success.

Resumen

Debido a que las intervenciones a nivel de la comunidad llegan a ser más comunes en la prevención de VIH, los procesos como la Movilización Comunitaria (MC) están cada vez siendo más utilizados en programas en salud pública e investigaciones. Project Accept, un ensayo multi-sitio, aleatorio controlado, está probando la hipótesis de que MC junto con el asesoramiento y análisis voluntario ambulante de base comunitaria y los servicios de apoyo después del análisis, modificaran las normas comunitarias y reducirán la incidencia de VIH. Usando el enfoque de múltiples casos, este estudio cualitativo identifica siete estrategias importantes para movilizar la comunidad utilizadas en Project Accept, incluyendo la aceptación de parte de los actores claves, la formación de coaliciones comunitarias, integración de la comunidad, participación comunitaria, incremento de la conciencia comunitaria, involucramiento de los lideres, fortalecimiento de las asociaciones, y describiendo los tres elementos claves del éxito de dicha movilización.

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Acknowledgments

Project Accept was sponsored by the US National Institute of Mental Health as a cooperative agreement through contracts U01MH066687 and U01MH066688 (Johns Hopkins University), U01MH066701 (University of California) and U01MH066702 (University of California, San Francisco). In addition, this work was sponsored by the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN Protocol 043) of the Division of AIDS of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and by the Office of AIDS Research of the US National Institute of Health. Views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the sponsoring agencies. We thank the communities that partnered with us in conducting this research and all study participants for their contributions. We also thank the study staff and volunteers for their work and dedication.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615N. Wolfe Street/Room E5037, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Virginia A. Tedrow

  2. Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe Street/Room E6535 , Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Carla E. Zelaya

  3. Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615N. Wolfe Street/Room E5033, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA

    Caitlin E. Kennedy

  4. Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Stephen F. Morin & Gertrude Khumalo-Sakutukwa

  5. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

    Michael D. Sweat

  6. Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    David D. Celentano

Authors
  1. Virginia A. Tedrow
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  2. Carla E. Zelaya
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  3. Caitlin E. Kennedy
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  4. Stephen F. Morin
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  5. Gertrude Khumalo-Sakutukwa
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  6. Michael D. Sweat
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  7. David D. Celentano
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Correspondence to Virginia A. Tedrow.

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Tedrow, V.A., Zelaya, C.E., Kennedy, C.E. et al. No “Magic Bullet”: Exploring Community Mobilization Strategies Used in a Multi-site Community Based Randomized Controlled Trial: Project Accept (HPTN 043). AIDS Behav 16, 1217–1226 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-011-0009-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-011-0009-9

Keywords

  • Community mobilization
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT)
  • Case study