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Background: Home specimen collection and telephone counseling (HSCTC) may be a convenient new method for detection of HIV infection among cohorts at high-risk for HIV.Goal: To evaluate attitudes about HSCTC among participants, HIV counselors, and community advisory board members associated with a national multisite study of persons at high risk for HIV.Study Design: Twelve focus groups and surveys were conducted at six sites among 126 counselors, community advisory board members, and cohort participants.Results: Staff and community advisory board members raised concerns about the acceptability, feasibility, safety, and effectiveness of HSCTC. In contrast, participants (92%) reported a willingness to collect blood and oral samples on a frequent basis, and preferred telephone (73%) to office-based counseling.Conclusion: Home specimen collection and telephone counseling appear to be preferred by study participants at high risk of HIV infection. Staff and community advisory board members had stronger reservations than prospective users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increased emphasis on community collaboration indicates the need for consensus regarding the definition of community within public health. This study examined whether members of diverse US communities described community in similar ways. To identify strategies to support community collaboration in HIV vaccine trials, qualitative interviews were conducted with 25 African Americans in Durham, NC; 26 gay men in San Francisco, Calif; 25 injection drug users in Philadelphia, Pa; and 42 HIV vaccine researchers across the United States. Verbatim responses to the question "What does the word community mean to you?" were analyzed. Cluster analysis was used to identify similarities in the way community was described. A common definition of community emerged as a group of people with diverse characteristics who are linked by social ties, share common perspectives, and engage in joint action in geographical locations or settings. The participants differed in the emphasis they placed on particular elements of the definition. Community was defined similarly but experienced differently by people with diverse backgrounds. These results parallel similar social science findings and confirm the viability of a common definition for participatory public health.