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Title
VIRTUAL ONLY: Advancing HIV health communication science: Challenges and opportunities for impact in key populations
Code
WS01
Session Type
Workshop
Track
Track D: Social and behavioural science
Format
Virtual
CME accreditation
Yes
ROOM/CHANNEL
Channel 11
Date Time
30 July 11:00 - 12:30
Facilitators
Collene LAWHORN, NiMH, United States
Gregory GREENWOOD, National Institute of Mental Health, United States
Level
Intermediate
Target Audience
Communications / Marketing officer
Public health official
Social or behavioural science researcher

Science workshop

Effective health communication is critical to enhancing health, lengthening life, and reducing illness and disability. Early HIV communication campaigns that championed condom use, voluntary medical male circumcision, and prevention of mother-to-child transmission have been lifesaving global interventions. Despite these successes, a preponderance of stigmatizing messages, systemic communication inequities and a lack of attention to the unique communication needs of key target audiences in low-resource settings can thwart current and future HIV health promotion efforts. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Division of AIDS Research (DAR) places a high priority on the needs of key populations and supports research to reduce the incidence of HIV and decrease the burden of living with HIV in key populations. This NIMH-led workshop seeks to identify opportunities to advance health communication research efforts to support the important needs of key populations worldwide.

We will host three interactive panel discussions featuring experts and leaders in the field of HIV, key populations and health communication science. The goal is to provide a thought-provoking experience for participants through conversations on health communication research challenges and opportunities to meet the diverse needs of key populations.

1. Opening remarks
2. Panel 1. The evolution of HIV health communication research and its impact on key populations
3. Panel 2. Effective partnerships and collaborations in HIV health communication research on key populations
4. Panel 3. Innovations in HIV health communication research involving key populations
5. Open discussion and Q&A
6. Closing remarks

11:00
90 min
 Workshop
Collene LAWHORN, NiMH, United States
Tamara TAGGART, Yale University, Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, United States
Dianne RAUSCH, NIMH, United States
Narquis BARAK, CrescentCare, United States
Sarah BASS, Temple University, United States
Keosha BOND, New York Medical College, United States
Chadwick CAMPBELL, University of California, San Francisco, United States
Shawnika HULL, Rutgers University, United States
Gregory GREENWOOD, National Institute of Mental Health, United States
Kumi SMITH, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, United States
Paul GAIST, National Institutes of Health Office of AIDS Research, United States
Maureen M. GOODENOW, National Institutes of Health, United States
Patricia NALLS, The Women's Collective, United States
Victoria FRYE, City University of New York School of Medicine, United States
Sophia ZAMUDIO-HAAS, University of California, San Francisco, United States
PDF
AUTHOR
Neo Mohlabane
SUMMARY
The workshop hosted three themed interactive panel discussions featuring experts and leaders in the field of HIV, key populations, and health communication science. The goal is to provide a thought-provoking experience for participants through conversations on health communication research challenges and opportunities to meet the diverse needs of key populations.
HIGHLIGHTS
The workshop highlights various pathways for achieving health equity through health communication and these include ensuring advocacy and community engagement, policy changes, HIV stigma reduction, dismantling of discriminatory power structures, and influencing equitable resource distribution. Sophia Zamudio-Haas of the University of California also highlighted the critical role of effective partnerships and collaborations in HIV health communication for raising awareness among key populations. For youth living with HIV (YLWH), attention needs to be paid to ensure that appropriate modalities for communication are used – one such modality that has proven to effectively convey messages to this population is comic strips and animation. Other creative strategies include the development of edutainment videos to raise awareness of PrEP amongst cisgender women. Keosha Bond from New York Medical College outlined a process that included the participation of target populations in the development and dissemination of HIV preventive messaging. Critically, among cis-gender women, the strategy emphasized ‘Put Yourself First’ and because it is women-centered, educational, entertaining, and relatable, it was effective in raising awareness about PrEP. Platforms for knowledge sharing are just as important as the strategies used and, in this era, various social media platforms have been used effectively amongst various populations.
CRITICAL ASSESSMENT
Early HIV communication campaigns that championed condom use, voluntary medical male circumcision, and prevention of mother-to-child transmission have been lifesaving global interventions. Despite these successes, a preponderance of stigmatizing messages, systemic communication inequities, and a lack of attention to the unique communication needs of key target audiences in low-resource settings can thwart current and future HIV health promotion efforts. Creativity, innovation, participation, and context specificity are critical aspects to be considered for ensuring that communication strategies successfully improve the health and wellbeing of key populations.