Prioritizing Community Partners and Community HIV Workers in the COVID-19 Pandemic
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NOTES FROM THE FIELD
Prioritizing Community Partners and Community HIV Workers in the COVID‑19 Pandemic Don Operario1 · Elizabeth J. King2 · Kristi E. Gamarel2
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
There is accumulating evidence documenting inequities in the burden and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the US, COVID-19 has disproportionately affected people of color and communities with pre-existing health disparities [1]. Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic will also continue to impact those most impacted by HIV [2, 3]. Thus, HIV researchers have been prompt to consider the deleterious effects of COVID-19 on populations already burdened by the HIV pandemic [4–6]. Others have drawn attention to lessons from HIV research that can apply to a rigorous COVID-19 response, including the importance of dismantling stigma [7], building multidisciplinary research teams to address health inequalities [8], and sustaining our investment in public health systems [9]. We add to this dialogue by urging the field to bring visibility to community partners who have continually been on the front-line of HIV prevention, education, advocacy, and social care and who now may face exacerbated vulnerabilities in their professional and personal lives. Their public health contributions and concomitant needs must not be ignored. We use the term community partner to reflect the breadth of individuals and collaborating organizations (typically these are not-for-profit, non-governmental organizations) that HIV researchers and health departments rely on for realworld impact. These partners have been crucial throughout the unfolding history of HIV prevention and treatment programming [10]. This essential workforce is now on the frontline of a dual pandemic, and many might be at personal risk for COVID-19 as they mobilize to compile and disseminate * Don Operario [email protected] 1
Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown University School of Public Health, 121 South Main Street, Providence, RI 02912, USA
Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
2
resources and basic supplies to their communities [11, 12]. At times their work has been overlooked, taken for granted, or forgotten by the research community during the course of the HIV epidemic [13]. We urge researchers to not overlook their contributions and challenges during the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic and the reorganization of HIV science as we adapt to continuing our research during unprecedented circumstances. HIV researchers have a responsibility to acknowledge the challenges and develop interventions to support the health and well-being of our community partners. We highlight specific domains that pose unique challenge to these colleagues. First, community partners may confront elevated risk for exposure to COVID-19. Due to the sociodemographic, geographic, and environmental intersections where HIV and COVID-19 meet, our community partners are likely to hav
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