Let's Stop HIV Together: Innovative Implementation To Fight HIV Stigma and Complacency

Background:  Stigma and complacency are two major obstacles to stopping HIV in the United States. Research shows that while most Americans understand how HIV is transmitted, stigma and discrimination against those with HIV still persists. Furthermore, despite the ongoing heavy toll of HIV, the sense of urgency around the epidemic has declined sharply, with the percentage of Americans naming HIV as the nation’s most urgent health problem falling from 21 percent in 2004 to 7 percent in 2011.

Program background:  Let’s Stop HIV Together (Together) is a national communications campaign that raises awareness about HIV and its impact on the lives of all Americans.  Together is part of Act Against AIDS, an umbrella initiative launched in 2009 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services. Along with raising awareness, Together also strives to reduce stigma and complacency surrounding HIV with a creative platform featuring people living with HIV alongside those who support them. The implementation and dissemination approach for this effort has included a phased media push through national print, digital and outdoor media placements, a strong social media presence and more targeted local media efforts and community engagement events in select cities.

Ongoing implementation tactics for Together that will be discussed include:

• Targeted efforts towards youth and Hispanic populations.
• Community partnerships and engagement efforts.
• Employing innovative ideas, such as mobile apps and Photovoice projects to disseminate the campaign messages.

Evaluation Methods and Results:  The implementation of this campaign has been driven largely by evaluating the response of the consumer to each individual push of the campaign. Through news reports, partner response and feedback from social and digital media we have been able to gage the interest and acceptance of this campaign with our target audience. When the Photovoice project is launched, process evaluations will be key in determining the success and impact it will have. Submissions and views to the online platform will be monitored as well as reactions through social media. This initiative is scheduled to launch in May and data will be available for presentation at time of the conference.

Conclusions:  This award-winning campaign has been well received by the general public, the media, the public health community and most importantly, persons living with and affected by HIV. Innovative implementation tactics have been used throughout this campaign with a strong focus on interacting with the consumer through social media and online platforms. Moving forward the campaign will continue to employ new ways of reaching out to the public, through initiatives at universities and working with partners on the ground and online.

Implications for research and/or practice:  The compelling and inspirational stories of the Together campaign participants are the cornerstone of this effort and serve as examples of how to effectively use storytelling to successfully address a very sensitive topic. Using a comprehensive approach to implementation and dissemination has also proven effective in reaching a broad audience for a national awareness campaign, while still allowing more targeted local implementation strategies.