CIRA's Qualitative Research Discussion Group (QRDG): Shan-Estelle Brown, Andrea Dunn, Richelle Joe

Talk Title:
"Navigating Challenges in Community-based Research Aimed at Ending the HIV Epidemic Among Black Women"

Talk Description:
Orange County, Florida is among several priority jurisdictions identified in the federal Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative due to the high prevalence of HIV in the region. Notably, the impact of HIV on Black cisgender women in Orange County is disproportionate to the population indicating a need to identify and remove barriers to HIV prevention for these women. Our interdisciplinary team sought to engage in a community-based participatory research project aimed at dismantling the gendered racism faced by Black women in healthcare settings that makes them vulnerable to HIV and other health conditions. Funded through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundations’ Interdisciplinary Research Leaders program, Team Orlando is a research team of Black women that includes a licensed pharmacist who leads a HIV-focused non-profit organization, a professor of anthropology, a professor of counselor education, and three research assistants with experience in counseling and public health. In 2022, we entered the first phase of our research project which included data collection through individual interviews with Black women in Orange County, FL. However, we encountered multiple challenges with recruitment, participant engagement, participant compensation, and fraudulent responses that slowed down the research process. This presentation will include a discussion of the methodology used in the research project, details of the challenges we faced, and an explanation of the methods and rationale we used to navigate those challenges. We expect that this presentation will inform research practice for collaborative teams seeking to address a global problem in a localized context.

J. Richelle Joe, Associate Professor, University of Central Florida
Dr. Richelle Joe is an Associate Professor of counselor education at the University of Central Florida. In addition to training future mental health, marriage/family, and school counselors, she engages in service and research that focus on culturally responsive engagement with underserved and marginalized individuals and families. She is particularly dedicated to raising awareness about HIV and addressing its prevention and treatment through a psychosocial lens.

Andrea Dunn, Founder and Executive Director, Let's Beehive!, Inc.
Dr. Andrea Dunn is the Founder and Executive Director of Let's Beehive!, Inc., a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Orlando, FL. She is very passionate about helping reduce the rates of HIV/AIDS in the community and help fill gaps in knowledge as it relates to HIV education, awareness, and prevention services among at risk populations disproportionately affected by this disease; especially heterosexual women and youth of color who are often underserved and misinformed.

Shan-Estelle Brown, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Coordinator of the Global Health Program at Rollins College
Dr. Shan-Estelle Brown is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Coordinator of the Global Health Program at Rollins College. Previously, she was Postdoctoral Research Associate in the AIDS Program at Yale School of Medicine. She is a mixed-methods medical anthropologist conducting community-engaged research, improving medical technologies, understanding patients' perceptions of risk and wellbeing, and identifying structural facilitators and barriers to access and retention in healthcare.

QRDG Overview:
The goal of the Qualitative Research Discussion Group (QRDG) is to provide opportunities for individuals involved in qualitative or mixed-methods research to meet regularly to discuss the qualitative research process and potentially problem-solve issues that may arise when engaged in qualitative research. Discussion topics include, but are not limited to: logistics, data management, analysis, dissemination, role of the researcher, and ethics. It is intended as a venue for discussing research in progress and new or relevant literature on qualitative methods and practice as well as to create networking opportunities and foster research collaborations. CIRA’s Dissemination and Implementation Science Methods Core (DISM) member, Lauretta Grau, PhD, is coordinating the meetings. She can be reached at [email protected].