"Hear(ing) New Voices": Peer Reflections from Community-Based Survey Development with Women Living with HIV.

BACKGROUND: The Canadian HIV Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study (CHIWOS) engaged in an innovative community-based survey development process. OBJECTIVES: We sought to provide 1) an overview of the survey development process, and 2) personal reflections from women living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV; "peers") on their own observations of strengths and short-comings of the process and opportunities for improvement. METHODS: Guided by the principles of community-based research (CBR) and meaningful involvement of women living with HIV (WLWH), CHIWOS coordinated a national, multidisciplinary research team, and facilitated a community based survey development process. LESSONS LEARNED: Four key lessons emerged highlighting the importance of 1) accommodating different preferences for feedback collection, 2) finding the right combination of people and skills, 3) formalizing mentorship, and 4) creating guidelines on survey item reduction and managing expectations from the outset. CONCLUSIONS: Peers discussed the strengths and weaknesses of participatory methodologies in survey development.

Women-specific HIV/AIDS services: identifying and defining the components of holistic service delivery for women living with HIV/AIDS.

INTRODUCTION: The increasing proportion of women living with HIV has evoked calls for tailored services that respond to women's specific needs. The objective of this investigation was to explore the concept of women-specific HIV/AIDS services to identify and define what key elements underlie this approach to care. METHODS: A comprehensive review was conducted using online databases (CSA Social Service Abstracts, OvidSP, Proquest, Psycinfo, PubMed, CINAHL), augmented with a search for grey literature. In total, 84 articles were retrieved and 30 were included for a full review. Of these 30, 15 were specific to HIV/AIDS, 11 for mental health and addictions and four stemmed from other disciplines. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The review demonstrated the absence of a consensual definition of women-specific HIV/AIDS services in the literature. We distilled this concept into its defining features and 12 additional dimensions (1) creating an atmosphere of safety, respect and acceptance; (2) facilitating communication and interaction among peers; (3) involving women in the planning, delivery and evaluation of services; (4) providing self-determination opportunities; (5) providing tailored programming for women; (6) facilitating meaningful access to care through the provision of social and supportive services; (7) facilitating access to women-specific and culturally sensitive information; (8) considering family as the unit of intervention; (9) providing multidisciplinary integration and coordination of a comprehensive array of services; (10) meeting women "where they are"; (11) providing gender-, culture- and HIV-sensitive training to health and social care providers; and (12) conducting gendered HIV/AIDS research. CONCLUSIONS: This review highlights that the concept of women-specific HIV/AIDS services is a complex and multidimensional one that has been shaped by diverse theoretical perspectives. Further research is needed to better understand this emerging concept and ultimately assess the effectiveness of women-specific services on HIV-positive women's health outcomes.

'About time!' Insights from Research with Pride: a community-student collaboration.

Research with Pride (RwP) was a community-student collaborative initiative to promote and build capacity for community-based research exploring health and wellness in lesbian, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) communities. The event took place at University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health (DLSPH) in September 2009, and engaged over 100 students, community members and academic researchers in a full day of discussion, learning and networking. RwP was initiated by a group of graduate students in Health Promotion who identified a gap in resources addressing LGBTQ health, facilitating their further learning and work in this area. By engaging in a partnership with a community service organization serving LGBTQ communities in downtown Toronto, RwP emerges as a key example of the role of community-student partnerships in the pursuit of LGBTQ health promotion. This paper will describe the nature of this partnership, outline its strengths and challenges and emphasize the integral role of community-student partnerships in health promotion initiatives.