Community Education (CE) and CAB

Community Education

Successful CE efforts makes recruitment easier and provides the community with knowledge. Subsequently the relationship built with the locals builds trust which allows for conveyance of facts in a less resistant fashion. SRC has worked to raise awareness of and to build support for research within the community before target based recruitment education can be effective. Before trial inception, during the trial, and also after the trial results are released, the Community Liaison Officer/s provides education to the various partners, stakeholders and general population on an on-going basis.

Community Advisory Board (CAB)

CAB members are an essential part of our research process.

CAB members are volunteers who serve in an advisory capacity to the SRC and provide input on important aspects of the trials conducted. CAB also serves to educate the community on research and the SRC’s position within the area.CAB members are trained in research literacy, ethics in research, basic aspects of HIV transmission, prevention, treatment and management and on specific protocols.

They are the ambassadors of SRC in the community and provide the link between SRC and the community. They are actively involved in all studies and provide input into all protocols from pre-trial inception up to trial closure and results dissemination.

Roles of the CAB include but are not limited to:

• Act as the liaison between the community and SRC.
• Assist in addressing the rumours and myths that arise from the community.
• Represent the community needs.
• Assist in promoting community awareness, research literacy and increasing participation through representation from different service providers.
• Identify unmet HIV prevention and TB educational needs within the catchment area.
• Assess the acceptability and relevance of the upcoming clinical trials.
• Give input on study educational materials when appropriate and community outreach activities.
• Assist in protocol development and review (reviewing relevant community documents, including educational materials and ICFs) from inception up to end of study, including dissemination of results.
• Discuss research documents and give feedback to the Principal Investigator and Study Coordinator of the site.

CAB composition

The CAB is guided by a Memorandum of Incorporation, outlining duties, roles, responsibilities and administration. The membership consists of but is not limited to people who represent the following different categories of the community:

• Women
• Health Service Providers
• Traditional healers
• Representation for the private and public sectors
• People living with HIV and TB ambassadors
• Community members (interested people, religious leaders, traditional healers, youth groups, etc.)
• LGBTI