Letting students be innovative! Using mini-grants to fund student-designed HIV/AIDS education

Mobilizing community-driven health promotion through community granting programs: a rapid systematic review

BACKGROUND

Effective health promotion responds to the unique needs of communities. Community granting programs that fund community-driven health promotion initiatives are a potential mechanism to meet those unique needs. While numerous community health-focused programs are available, the various strategies used by granting programs to foster engagement, administer grants and support awardees have not been systematically evaluated. This rapid systematic review explores the administration of community granting programs and how various program components impact process and population health outcomes.

METHODS

A systematic search was conducted across three databases: Medline, SocINDEX, and Political Science Database. Single reviewers completed screening, consistent with a rapid review protocol. Studies describing or evaluating community granting programs for health or public health initiatives were included. Data regarding program characteristics were extracted and studies were evaluated for quality. A convergent integrated approach was used to analyze quantitative and qualitative findings.

RESULTS

Thirty-five community granting programs, described in 36 studies, were included. Most were descriptive reports or qualitative studies conducted in the USA. Program support for grant awardees included technical assistance, workshops and training, program websites, and networking facilitation. While most programs reported on process outcomes, few reported on community or health outcomes; such outcomes were positive when reported. Programs reported that many funded projects were likely sustainable beyond program funding, due to the development of awardee skills, new partnerships, and securing additional funding. From the perspectives of program staff and awardees, facilitators included the technical assistance and workshops provided by the programs, networking amongst awardees, and the involvement of community members. Barriers included short timelines to develop proposals and allocate funds.

CONCLUSIONS

This review provides a comprehensive overview of health-related community granting programs. Grant awardees benefit from technical assistance, workshops, and networking with other awardees. Project sustainability is enhanced by the development of new community partnerships and grant-writing training for awardees. Community granting programs can be a valuable strategy to drive community health, with several key elements that enhance community mobilization.

REGISTRATION

PROSPERO #CRD42023399364.

Lost in translation: College students' knowledge of HIV and PrEP in relation to their sexual health behaviors

OBJECTIVE

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a notable public health problem among young adults. The present study examined college students' knowledge of HIV and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in relation to their sexual health behaviors.

PARTICIPANTS AND METHOD

Participants included 1516 students who completed questionnaires on actual and perceived HIV knowledge, perceived PrEP knowledge, and sexual health behaviors.

RESULTS

While knowledge of HIV was high, knowledge of PrEP was low. Approximately 73% of the sample reported not using condoms at all times, and 41% reported never having been tested for HIV. Women, students at public schools, upper-year students, and students with higher HIV and PrEP knowledge were more likely to get tested for HIV than their counterparts. Knowledge of HIV and PrEP did not relate to condom use.

CONCLUSION

These results suggest the need for increased education about PrEP and strategies to help students translate knowledge about HIV to recommended sexual health behaviors.

Status of personal health requirement for graduation at institutions of higher education in the United States

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to examine the proportion of higher education institutions in the United States that require a personal health course (PHC) for graduation and to describe the nature of such requirements. Participants: This study included a random sample of public and private institutions of higher education (IHE) with undergraduate programs within the United States (N = 310). Data were collected between September 2014 and May 2015.

METHODS

University catalogs were accessed from the institutions' public Web sites to determine whether a PHC was offered, and whether it was exclusively or optionally required for graduation.

RESULTS

The majority (55.8%) of the sample offered at least 1 PHC, with only 10% exclusively requiring the course and an additional 10% optionally required the course.

CONCLUSIONS

Although the utility of undergraduate students completing a PHC is clear, the majority of institutions do not require such a course for degree conferral.

Minigrants for Community Health: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Their Impact on Family Food Gardening

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the impact of minigrants on home food gardening and review 28 health-related minigrant programs reported in the literature for lessons relevant for using minigrant programs to promote community health.

DESIGN

Randomized controlled trial of the impact of minigrants on square footage of food garden area and on garden initiation in 2010 versus 2011. Interviews with participants were also conducted and coded and the literature was reviewed for findings from other community health minigrant programs.

SETTING

Laramie, Wyoming.

PARTICIPANTS

Sixty adults living in 53 households who attended a gardening training workshop in April 2011.

INTERVENTION

A $40 minigrant in the form of a voucher, valid at a local gardening store.

RESULTS

Minigrant recipients were more likely to increase their gardening space than the control group. The average increase for the intervention group was 39.2 ft (3.62 m) while the control group average garden plot size decreased slightly, on average, by 1.4 ft (-0.13 m). However, the data were not normally distributed and, therefore, nonparametric statistical tests were used. For the subset of 20 households that did not garden at all in 2010, minigrants also provided motivation to start gardening (8 of 10 minigrant households started a garden vs 2 of 10 control households). Results reported from other health minigrant programs are also positive, though few had quantitative outcomes or control groups for comparison.

CONCLUSIONS

Even with very small amounts of money, minigrants show promise as an ethical, inexpensive, empowering, and effective health promotion strategy to enable families and communities to improve their health.