title: Using participatory mapping to inform a community-randomized trial of HIV counseling and testing.
abstract: Participatory mapping and transect walks were used to inform the research and intervention design and to begin building community relations in preparation for Project Accept, a community-randomized trial sponsored by the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). NIMH Project Accept is being conducted in five sites within four countries including Thailand, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Tanzania. Results from the mapping exercises informed decisions about the research design such as defining community boundaries, and identifying appropriate criteria for matching community pairs for the trial. The mapping also informed intervention related decisions such as where to situate the services. The participatory methods enabled each site to develop an understanding of the communities that could not have been derived from existing data or data collected through standard data collection techniques. Furthermore, the methods lay the foundation for collaborative community research partnerships.
authors.affiliation: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC, USA.
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maman
authors.affiliation: Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lane
authors.affiliation: Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Science, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
authors.forename: Jacob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ntogwisangu
authors.affiliation: Perinatal HIV Research Unit, Johannesburg, South Africa.
authors.forename: Precious
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Modiba
authors.affiliation: Health Sciences Research Council, Durban, South Africa.
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: vanRooyen
authors.affiliation: University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Timbe
authors.affiliation: Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
authors.forename: Surasing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Visrutaratna
authors.affiliation: International Center for Research on Women, Washington, D.C., USA.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fritz
keywords: community-randomized trial; formative research; mapping; participatory research methods