2017 International Conference on Stigma

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1 Project Summary/Abstract 2 Background: HIV continues to spread at alarming rates and a great number of people living with HIV and 3 AIDS are not engaged in care, with significant racial disparities in outcomes. Despite advances in treatment 4 and other interventions, rates of new HIV infections in the US remain high. We believe that shame and stigma 5 of HIV contribute significantly to these poor outcomes. Attitudes towards those with HIV and other stigmatized 6 conditions have not changed much. It is essential to promote empirical research and theory building for 7 stigma that would have both basic and applied scientific significance, including implications for policymakers 8 and opinion leaders. There is need to develop and evaluate interventions that are tailored to reduce stigma 9 particularly in communities of color. Also, it is critical to mentor junior minority researchers involved in stigma 10 research. The overarching goal is to decrease HIV and other health-related stigma, and improve health 11 outcomes. The main goal of this proposal is to strengthen research capacity, particularly in junior minority 12 researchers in the field of stigma, and to foster research-community partnerships. Methods: The proposed 13 International Conference on Stigma will be the eighth held since 2010 and will take place on November 17, 14 2017 at Howard University. The goal of the conference is to bring together researchers, community leaders, 15 policy makers, academia, students, and affected individuals with emphasis on inclusion of racial and gender 16 minorities and women. Howard University and its partners have an established structure of committees and 17 volunteers to orchestrate this event. The conference has had a strong online presence through social media 18 and its webpage---www.whocanyoutell.org. The 2017 conference will include a plenary session, at least 4 19 workshops, scientific poster presentations, personal stories, arts and networking opportunities. We expect an 20 attendance of 400 at this conference. A special workshop will target junior minority researchers to promote 21 mentoring and build capacity for stigma research. The conference will be broadcast live via webcast and the 22 lectures/workshops will be archived on our website. Specific AIMS for the conference are: 1.) Describe the 23 impact of stigma on patient outcomes and present research in the field of HIV-related and other health- 24 related stigma, including research tools to monitor stigma and evaluate interventions. 2.) Conduct a 25 workshop providing guidance and mentoring for researchers at early stages of development and for under- 26 represented minorities to pursue research and funding on health-related stigma. 3.) Provide a forum for 27 networking between affected individuals, researchers, community leaders, and clinicians to inspire cutting 28 edge behavioral research in the field of stigma, with establishment of research workgroups. Evaluation: 29 Process and outcomes evaluation will be implemented to determine the extent to which the conference met 30 its goals.