[Viva] Fwd: PAN Update: Community-Based Research Studies & PRA Job Posting

[Margarite Sanchez]

Looks like a good thing.


Begin forwarded message:

*From: *Ben Stevenson <bens at aidsvancouver.org>
*Date: *October 22, 2010 3:15:33 PM PDT (CA)
*To: *"'pan-ed at telus.net'" <pan-ed at telus.net>, "terryh at bcpwa.org" <
terryh at bcpwa.org>
*Subject: **PAN Update: Community-Based Research Studies & PRA Job Posting*

*PAN Update on Community-Based Research Studies*
*Seeking Peer Research Assistants for BC Food Security Study*
*&*
*LISA Project: state of affairs*
* *

Dear Executive Director / key contact of PAN member organizations and allied
agencies:

The Pacific AIDS Network and fellow BC co-investigators - AIDS Vancouver,
the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and Simon Fraser University, with
the support of the CIHR Community Based Research Facilitator (housed at the
BC Persons with AIDS Society - are pleased to provide you with information
on our next steps as we move forward with a national *Food Security
study. *This
Food Security study is part of the LISA Project, more information about
which is included in this letter (see below).

The Food Security study is being conducted in accordance with
community-based research principles and we will be exploring the connections
between food security and health outcomes for people living with HIV/AIDS in
Canada. As far as the BC picture is concerned, the study aims to recruit a
total of 800 participants from throughout the province over a one-year
period.

Presently the BC community-based research team is looking to recruit *10
Peer Research Assistants *(PRAs)* *from across the province. The training
for the PRAs will be held December 8-10 at AIDS Vancouver, 1107 Seymour St.
Vancouver, BC.

We are kindly asking that you circulate the attached job posting within your
organization and related networks and encourage people to apply who you
think would be eligible and interested candidates for the position.

PRAs will be hired from across regions in BC, meaning there will be 3-4
positions for the Lower Mainland, 2 for Vancouver Island, 2 for the
Interior, and 2 for the ‘North’. Monies are available to support folks from
outside of the Lower Mainland to travel to Vancouver to participate in the
PRA training.

Please note that for the purposes of the study, *the term “peer” is defined
as a person living with HIV/AIDS.* Also consistent with community-based
research principles, these are paid positions (furthermore, all persons
living with HIV/AIDS who sign up for the study will also remunerated).

We are currently accepting applications for the PRAs. Ben Stevenson, the
study’s PRA Coordinator, and Terry Howard, BC’s Community-Based Research
Facilitator, will be conducting interviews (tentatively scheduled for
November 8, 9 and 10) to assemble a cohesive and diversely representative
team of peers. The submission deadline for applications is 5.00 pm, Nov. 5,
2010.

The Food Security study represents an exciting opportunity for PAN member
organizations and allied agencies to engage in a national project that is
devoting a significant amount of funding to building community-based
research networks here in BC. This means that in addition to the study’s
primary objectives of looking at the issue of food security (and related
issues such as risk factors, barriers that people experience regarding food
security, etc.), we will also be working on developing sustainable capacity
for people living with HIV and their community-based networks to
meaningfully participate not only in this study but also to become more
involved in community-based research in general.

*Partner Commitments from host organizations/agencies:*

In order that this study proceeds effectively, we are asking that host
agencies provide some key services to facilitate the intermittent work of
the PRAs. This will include some or all of the following (to be determined
in detail for future work):

                1. *Workspace* – access to a computer, internet, telephone,
photocopying, printing, a lockable cabinet, space to conduct confidential
interviews with participants.

                2. *Administrative Support* – maintain and keep a record of
the flow of Food Security monies from the Research Team through organization
to the PRA; process PRA’s requests for participant honoraria in a timely
manner.

                3. *Promotional Support* – share recruitment information
throughout client base, post the Food Security flyer in the office, promote
the study online.

                4. *Mentorship and Supervision* – provide regular
supervision of PRA and provide regular feedback to the Food Security
Research Team through the Peer Research Coordinator, Ben Stevenson.


If your organization is interested in participating in and supporting the
Food Security study, we would welcome your recommendations for people to
fill the Peer Research Assistant positions. Please send their contact
information as well as a brief statement outlining why you think this person
would be good fit for the position to,

-                       Ben Stevenson, PRA Coordinator,
bens at aidsvancouver.org (p. 604.696.4694; c. 778.996.9121)

*If you have any other questions regarding the study, please don’t hesitate
to get in contact with Ben.

* *
*About the BC Centre for Excellence’s (BCCfEs) LISA Project:*
The goal of the LISA Project is to gain a better understanding of how people
living with HIV in the province of BC are doing outside of clinical markers
(such as CD4 counts, etc.). The face-to-face interviews conducted through
the LISA Project provide people with an opportunity to voice the challenges
and successes of their daily lives. To date, over 1,000 people across the
province have participated in the LISA project.  The BCCfE, in partnership
with our partners in the community, hope to continue the LISA project and
also use it as a means to evaluate non-clinical outcomes for Seek and Treat
for Optimal Prevention (STOP-AIDS). By continuing to collect the lived
experiences of people living with HIV in the province, LISA seeks to better
understand barriers to testing, access, treatment and retention and inform
appropriate intervention practices.

*LISA Project Commitment to CBR: *
Over the past year, the LISA Project, with the guidance and collaboration of
community leaders, has been developing a new mode of operations for the
conduct of its research in BC that assumes the active participation of
community-based AIDS organizations and PHAs in the design, implementation
and knowledge translation of HIV research. By applying a community-based
research (CBR) methodology within the LISA Cohort, the BCCfE will work to
ensure that research findings directly contribute to the identification of
best practices in community-based HIV treatment, care and support, and help
to inform community-based programs as well as to provide a means to
influence and inform public policies.

To this end, the LISA project has developed a community advisory committee,
which contains a representative group of people living with HIV/AIDS in BC;
is working closely with the CIHR Community-based Research Facilitator
(CBRF), Terry Howard, to implement evidence-based CBR principles and
procedures; and is formalizing partnerships with multiple community-based
organizations including PAN for the conduct of research using this new
paradigm.

Finally, in partnership with the community, the BCCfE is now preparing a
submission to the National Institutes of Health’s Seek, Test, Treat and
Retain: Addressing HIV Among Vulnerable Populations call for funding. This
is a funding call from the NIH’s National Institutes for Drug Abuse (NIDA),
and again the intention is to continue to examine how the social
determinants of health (housing, income, etc.) as well as the STOP HIV-AIDS
pilot projects are impacting health outcomes for people living with
HIV/AIDS.


Thank you for taking the time to digest all this information and we hope to
hear from you shortly with feedback and references for PRAs.

Sincerely,

Evin Jones
Executive Director
Pacific AIDS Network

Ali Palmer
Project Coordinator
Drug Treatment Program
BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS

and

Ben Stevenson
BC PRA Coordinator HIV/Food Security Study
Housed at AIDS Vancouver
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