Partnerships

Creating partnerships and building relationships with community-based organizations is critical to the success of rural HIV/AIDS programs.

Some rural health departments work with community-based organizations to implement HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment services in the community because they know the population well. Rural HIV/AIDS programs may have a case manager, social workers, or patient navigator on the team who maintains relationships with all of the organizations in the community so it is possible to refer people to other organizations for support services.

Rural HIV/AIDS programs in health departments and community organizations also need strong relationships with substance use disorder and mental health providers, as HIV and substance abuse have been closely connected — and people with substance use disorders also sometimes experience a mental health issue.

Resources to Learn More

Building Partnerships and Stakeholder Relationships for HIV Prevention: Longitudinal Cohort Study Focuses on Community Engagement
Document
Demonstrates how engagement activities helped establish community partnerships to decrease research mistrust and increase the participation and retention of women impacted by HIV in a multisite HIV incidence study, HIV Prevention Trials Network. Women selected for the study were from 10 geographic areas described as having the highest prevalence of HIV and poverty and as vulnerable to HIV infection due to several factors including substance use, incarceration, and sexually transmitted disease.
Author(s): DeShields, R. D., Lucas, J.P., Turner, M., et al.
Citation: Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action, 14(1), 29-42
Date: 5/2020