Participants in the sessions also recommended strategies to foster Latino
recruitment and approaches to sustain Latino participation in the HIV prevention
community planning process. Some participants stated that some of these
recommendations were already being implemented in their jurisdiction. The
following themes describe initiatives that address the issue of Latino
participation in the HIV prevention community planning process:
- Co-sponsoring roundtable discussions with other planning groups to discuss
barriers; making personal efforts to reach Latinos (e.g., phone calls, mail).
- Providing capacity-building assistance to CBOs on community planning to
encourage their participation in the community planning process.
- Pursuing conversations with stakeholders and key HIV/AIDS community players
outside of the community planning process to encourage participation.
- Developing an effective process for reviewing community planning guidelines
and community planning group by-laws.
- Fostering coalition building within community planning groups; educating
community leaders on the community planning process.
- Facilitating roundtable discussions in Spanish and/or providing language
translation.
- Making commitments or resolutions to involve more Latinos in the community
planning process.
- Providing comprehensive orientation and mentoring to new and ongoing
members.
- Rotating meeting places and creating spaces for informal meetings.
- Holding meetings during hours that accommodate community participation
(e.g., time, day, and locations).
- Providing incentives for participation (e.g., child care, transportation,
meals, etc.).
In addition, some members of CDC’s National Technical Assistance Providers’
Network for HIV prevention community planning have provided PIR technical
assistance relating to Latino involvement. As a result, the following can be
added to the previous list:
- Marketing the importance of community planning in Latino communities
- Developing a Latino or People of Color committee within CPGs to address
recruitment and retention issues
- Providing cultural sensitivity and competency workshops/training to CPG
members
- Advertising CPG meetings as a public meeting for the community at-large
- Developing marketing tools that document the accomplishments of past CPG
processes
These activities are not exclusive to achieving PIR among Latinos in the
community planning process. Other communities of color may be using some of the
same strategies. As documented in the following section, several CPGs have
implemented strategies to address the barriers that limit Latino participation
in community planning.
Go to Examples of Latino Involvement in Community Planning |