Grant: Planning Grants - Priority Announcement: HIV/AIDS

We are requesting funding to conduct two workshops whose main objectives are to plan a community-based prevention project to reduce HIV vulnerability in LGTB (Lesbian, Gay, Trans, Bisexual) Latino populations in Canada (Toronto) and Colombia (Cali and Pereira). The specific objectives of the activity are: 1) To identify main successful community-based research and education projects for LGTB populations implemented in Latino and other related communities in Canada, and based on those experiences, 2) To plan a community-based project that serves to implement new prevention strategies in Canada (Toronto) and Colombia (Cali, Pereira) with the aim of reducing HIV vulnerability among LGTB populations in both contexts. The workshops will be conducted with community organizations working with LGTB Latino populations in Ontario, two NGOs in Colombia working in prevention and care of people with HIV/AIDS, LGTB communities from two Colombian cities (Cali and Pereira) and from Ontario, and Canadian and Colombia academics. One workshop will be conducted in Toronto, where we will define: 1) needs that should be addressed by prevention projects; 2) major educational and promotional theories/strategies that have been proven to work in LGTB communities; 3) better ways to approach LGTB communities; 4) important steps to build a community-based prevention project. The other workshop will be conducted in Cali, Colombia. In this workshop, we will present the conclusions of the Toronto workshop and then we will search to identify the main ways to approach the project in the Colombian LGTB communities, including the different mechanisms that could be developed to increase networking between health providers, NGOs, researchers and LGTB communities. Our main expected outcome is to have the first outline for the community based prevention project completed.