HIVNET HIV Network for Prevention Trials - Community Educators Group

Mission: Community Educators' Group (CEG)

The mission of the community educators' group is to support the responsible and effective conduct of community-based HIV prevention trials. The ongoing task of the CEG is to develop and implement community education strategies designed to address community relations, increase community awareness, and facilitate community participation in the design and development of vaccine research. To accomplish this, the CEG ensures that key constituency groups are informed about HIV prevention research, new movements and trends in HIV prevention, scientific concerns in the design of clinical trials, and the overall efforts of the HIV Network for Prevention Trials (HIVNET). Key constituency groups for CEG efforts include:

the scientific community.
study participants.
community advisory board members (CABs).
members of communities at risk for and affected by HIV.
community providers.
the media.
the lay public.

Acknowledging the critical role that community participation and collaboration play in the successful development and implementation of research, the work of the community educators is guided by the following set of principles:

to provide leadership that ensures integrity and quality in research conducted by HIVNET by making certain that the community at large, particularly historically disenfranchised communities are provided with adequate information about and access to processes relevant to the studies conducted by HIVNET.
to proactively design and execute local and national media relations strategies.
to facilitate community interest in discourse on HIV prevention research, with particular emphasis on HIV vaccines.
to employ strategies to empower communities that enable them to make informed decisions about the acceptance of and participation in HIV prevention research.
to advocate for community constituents.
to ensure communication and coordination among community members involved with HIVNET.

To support educational efforts, the CEG, in consultation with and assistance from the Community Education/Media Relations Working Group (CEMR), the HIVNET Domestic Contractor (Abt), and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Office of Communications (NIAID OC), designs, develops, and disseminates culturally and linguistically appropriate and relevant educational materials pertinent to clinical research, particularly vaccine research, other biomedical HIV prevention strategies, social and behavioral interventions, and issues related to community relations, readiness, and preparedness for clinical trials.