Connect to Protect (C2P): Building a Community-Based Infrastructure for HIV Prevention

• Assess the extent to which C2P activities influence elements of the community that affect HIV-related risk prevention, testing, treatment and linkage to healthcare among youth aged 12-24 years and represent intermediate outcomes for this study. [ Time Frame: End of year 5 (study completion) ]

  Assessment will include evaluation across three primary intermediate outcome areas:

  1. Achievement of Structural Change Objectives (SCOs) (programs, policies, practices) that target increased levels of HIV-related prevention, testing, and linkage to healthcare.
  2. Increased levels of community capacity and social capital to address HIV-related prevention, testing, and linkage to healthcare.
  3. Increased levels of sustainability across the HIV continuum of care (CoC) including prevention, testing, and linkage to healthcare activities initiated or influenced by C2P, including programs, policies, and new relationships
  
  

• Examine how attributes of the SCOs relate to intermediate outcomes in order to provide guidance and recommendations to policy makers. [ Time Frame: End of year 5 (study completion) ]

  Attributes that will be analyzed include:

  1. Change strategy (e.g., information provisions, policy change, relationship formation, program creation).
  2. Sector(s) where change occurs.
  3. Distal and proximal causes targeted.
  4. Youth population affected by change (e.g., universal, selected, or indicated).
  
  
• Assess the trends and associations with strategies used to achieve SCOs (e.g., creating linkages, honest brokering, strategic partnering, etc.) [ Time Frame: End of year 5 (study completion) ]
  

The C2P community mobilization model entails: determining a geographic area and population of focus for the coalitions to prioritize their planning and action; developing coalitions that have a shared vision and mission; developing a strategic plan focused on structural changes to reduce risks associated with HIV; documenting processes; providing feedback as technical assistance to the coalitions; hosting regular working group meetings; and on-going capacity building. The National Coordinating Center (NCC), operating under the direction of the Protocol Chair, provides guidance, training, technical assistance and feedback to coalitions.

The evaluation of C2P includes both process evaluation (i.e., documentation of coalition actions and achievements of structural changes; and outcome evaluation to qualitatively assess (via Key Informant (KI) interviews) if and how C2P efforts, including completed structural changes, have influenced the risk environment within each community. In addition, local health surveillance data and HIV testing data will be used to evaluate changes in HIV testing patterns and HIV/Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) morbidity among youth.