title: Engaging Religious Institutions to Address Racial Disparities in HIV/AIDS: A Case of Academic-Community Partnership.
abstract: African Americans face the most severe burden of HIV among all racial and ethnic groups. Direct involvement of faith leaders and faith communities is increasingly suggested as a primary strategy to reduce HIV-related disparities, and Black churches are uniquely positioned to address HIV stigma, prevention, and care in African American communities. The authors describe an academic-community partnership to engage Black churches to address HIV in a predominantly African American, urban, southern Midwest location. The opportunities, process, and challenges in forming this academic-community partnership with Black churches can be used to guide future efforts toward engaging faith institutions, academia, and other community partners in the fight against HIV.
authors.affiliation: University of Alabama at Birmingham and University of Cincinnati.
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Szaflarski
authors.affiliation: Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and University of Cincinnati.
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Vaughn
authors.affiliation: IV-CHARIS.
authors.forename: Camisha
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chambers
authors.affiliation: IV-CHARIS.
authors.forename: Mamie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: University of Cincinnati.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ruffner
authors.affiliation: University of Cincinnati.
authors.forename: Yolanda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wess
authors.affiliation: University of Cincinnati.
authors.forename: LaSharon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mosley
authors.affiliation: Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
authors.forename: Chandra
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Smith
keywords: Black churches; HIV/AIDS; community-engaged research