1. The Community Involvement Community of Practice: A Model for Collaboration in the Field
Katherine West Slevin1, Nomampondo Barnabas2, Stella Kirkendale3, Morenike Ukpong4
1Global Campaign for Microbicides, PATH, Washington, DC, USA; 2Global Campaign for Microbicides, PATH, Johannesburg, South Africa; 3Family Health International, Durham, NC, USA; 4New HIV Vaccine and Microbicide Advocacy Society, Lagos, Nigeria
Background: Why is a Community Involvement Community of Practice (CoP) Needed?
Over the last decade, staff at many clinical trials have developed expertise on proven strategies, learnt lessons, and improved practices on community engagement in and around HIV-prevention biomedical trials.
Sharing this expertise among research staff working for different trial networks and sponsors can:
reduce the learning burden on network sponsors and individual research staff;
foster a culture of collaboration; and
help networks and individual trial sites optimize their community engagement efforts and, thus, enable positive environments for trials to take place.
Some Benefits of Community Engagement1
Creates a conducive environment for community- research partnerships.
Ensures ongoing two-way information exchange, feedback, and dialogue between community and research team.
Strengthens community capacity to articulate and address their own social and development needs (in turn helping to prepare for eventual introduction and access to new HIV-prevention technologies).
Enhances scientific validity and ethical integrity throughout the trial
Photos from the 2008 and 2009 CoP Annual Meetings
Methods & Results: The Community Involvement CoP
To facilitate greater sharing across networks and research sites, the Global Campaign for Microbicides established the Community Involvement Community of Practice (CoP). The CoP brings together community liaison officers and others working on community engagement at HIV-biomedical research trials.
The CoP was formed in 2008 and has resulted in a monthly teleconferences (the notes of which are distributed to all members), an online resource center for community engagement, a members directory to facilitate intra-member networking, and two annual meetings at which learnt lessons and improved practices were shared.
Members of the Community Involvement CoP at the 2009 Annual Meeting, Mombasa, Kenya
1Mobilization for Community Involvement in Microbicide Trials: A Report from a Dialogue in Southern Africa. Washington, DC: Global Campaign for Microbicides; 2004.
Where CoP Members Work
By Geography
By Type of HIV Prevention Study/Organization
Conclusion: A Model for Collaboration
Coordinated efforts to share lessons, materials, and problem-solving strategies both within and among trial networks adds value to the quality of the community-engagement efforts by HIV-prevention research teams. Until the establishment of the CoP, this kind of synergy happened within networks, but little communication occurred across networks and independent research centers. Providing an innovative model that promotes learning and networking among research sites and staff, the CoP serves a much needed framework to facilitate collaboration within the HIV-prevention research field.
To learn more about the CoP and GCM’s community engagement work, please visit