The Community Outreach/Engagement of the proposed P20 Center of Excellence will build on and expand the existing community based activities of the NCMHD funded R24 Center of Excellence. As requested in the RFA, the Core is structured around specific questions. For each question, the Core has a specific aim and a pilot program.
Specific aims of the Core include: (1) to stimulate and nurture efforts by community based organizations (CBOs) to design, implement and evaluate evidence based and culturally appropriate intervention programs that address the Latino health disparities in HIV/AIDS and substance abuse in Miami- Dade County [Question: How can we enhance the capacity of the CBOs to design, implement and evaluate evidence based and culturally relevant HIV/AIDS and substance abuse prevention and treatment programs?];(2) to improve access to prevention and treatment programs for HIV/AIDS and substance abuse for Latinos in Miami-Dade County by engaging community leadership [Question: Are community health coaches effective in linking substance abusers and HIV infected/uninfected individuals within the Latino community to prevention and treatment services?];and (3) to involve young Latino adults in health promotion and education outreach models for preventing HIV/AIDS and substance abuse [Question: How can young Latino adults (i.e., college students) engage in educating their peers on HIV/AIDS and substance abuse?]. In order to address these questions, the Core will conduct three pilot programs to create a network of CBOs interested in enhancing their programs through evidence-based practices, to link people to services through a Comadres/Compadres (Godmother/ Godfather in Spanish) model, and to educate Latino college students at Florida International University. The Core relies on the Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) conceptual framework. Relevance to Public Health: The Core will stimulate the transfer of culturally relevant and evidence-based HIV and substance abuse prevention interventions (both primary and secondary) among Latinos. These interventions are much needed in Miami Dade County, as the County is located had the highest reported AIDS annual rate among all metropolitan areas in the U.S. in 2004 and is heavily impacted by the substance abuse epidemic.
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