Join us at the Asheville Big Science September Salon on Wednesday, September 3rd, for a presentation titled Nothing About Us Without Us: Research in Partnership with Queer Appalachian Communities, presented by John Chaffin, Community Health Worker Coordinator at the Western North Carolina AIDS Project (WNCAP) and Dr. Scott Rhodes, Professor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Chaffin and Rhodes will explore the concepts behind community-based participatory research (CBPR), a collaborative approach in which researchers engage community members equally as partners, and the ways in which CBPR leads to better science and more sustainable, community-based solutions. The presenters will share their use of CBPR in developing and evaluating interventions for improving health outcomes for marginalized communities in Appalachia, specifically populations enduring higher rates of HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and hepatitis C. Topics will include: an overview of CBPR and its application in the Appalachian context; the collaborative development of the bilingual Appalachian Access Project intervention; the structure and components of the intervention; and the implications of this work for advancing health in the region.

Learn more here: wncap.org/nothing-about-us-without-us