UK-CAB study at BHIVA 2017

In April 2017, a study from the UK-CAB was presented as a poster at the leading UK HIV medical conference.

Every year this meeting includes a wide range of HIV research including studies from community organisations.

This year the UK-CAB submitted original research from a survey looking at the involvement of community representatives (CR) in research and guidelines. The research team included Robert James, Laura Kwardem and Jane Shepherd, with input from other members of the UK-CAB Steering Group.

The study interviewed doctors and researchers about their experiences of working with community representatives. This is one of the UK-CAB’s three core aims.

The study results showed that community representatives brought new and essential ideas and perspectives to this work and that this involvement contributed to better outcomes.

Although including HIV positive advocates is now accepted for BHIVA guidelines and by many research groups, the outcomes from this involvement is not always understood.

The current study included examples of community representation and included recommendations for future partnerships.

The UK-CAB wanted to document the impact of these outcomes because community representation is a key demand from the early days of HIV activism, being included in the Denver Principles from 1983.

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