One-third of new HIV infections in Washington DC are diagnosed at Whitman-Walker Health (WWH), and more than a quarter of DC’s population living with HIV receives care at WWH.
A number of years ago, the Whitman-Walker Institute was established, working in tandem with the clinic to be a primary site of HIV research. Within DC, what we know to be true is that communities East of the River are predominantly Black areas that indeed have the highest rate of HIV infection in our city, as well as in our country. Wards 7 and 8 also have higher rates of poverty and fewer healthcare facilities and providers compared to other wards.
That is part of the reason why Whitman-Walker opened its (much larger) Max Robinson Center on the campus of St. Elizabeths East in Congress Heights. As an aside, Max Robinson, the first African American broadcast network news anchor, died of AIDS-related complications, which was only made public upon his death – as a means to educate the community.
As Whitman-Walker continues to expand services in the new Max Robinson Center, we want to be able to serve the needs of the community.
The Whitman-Walker Institute is conducting an HIV-research Needs Assessment in collaboration with leaders from several prominent DC community organizations, leaders from the DC CFAR Community Partnership Council (CPC), and internal stakeholders from WWH’s key community-based programs serving residents in Wards 7 and 8.
Our goal: The Whitman-Walker Institute is interested in talking to residents of Wards 7 and 8 about their health and topics that they believe should be priorities in HIV research.
The research study focuses on four populations who experience the greatest inequities in both HIV prevention and care:
- Transgender people of color
- Cisgender heterosexual Black women
- People who use drugs
- LGBTQ+ adolescents and young adults (13-24)
The research study has two main objectives:
- To develop and conduct a community-led HIV Research Needs Assessment in DC’s Wards 7 and 8 to identify areas of highest urgency for research to center community needs and members within HIV treatment and prevention research.
- Use a community-based participatory approach to translate the findings from the Needs Assessment into a Research Agenda to support the design and implementation of research conducted in the new Max Robinson Center.
This project includes four phases:
- To develop a preliminary Needs Assessment tool with leaders from several prominent DC community organizations, leaders from the DC CFAR Community Partnership Council (CPC), and WWH internal stakeholders.
- To conduct 4 focus groups with each community of interest in Wards 7 and 8 to review and identify gaps in the preliminary Needs Assessment.
- To distribute a final version of the Needs Assessment to 400 community members and 25 providers who reside and/or serve in Wards 7 and 8.
- To conduct a listening session with community members and providers in Wards 7 and 8 to present preliminary results of the Needs Assessment survey and discuss making an HIV Research Agenda based on said results.
CALL TO ACTION: We are currently in phase 3 of the study and are looking for patients to participate. If you belong to any of the four populations listed above, complete the screener survey at this link (bit.ly/DCCFAR) to see if you’re eligible to participate and earn $50.