HIV/AIDS COMMUNITY INFORMATION OUTREACH PROJECT 2015

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recognize that it is critical to establish relationships and engage the community in an effort to enhance understanding of unmet information needs of specific populations who are disproportionately infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. In 1993, NLM and the NIH Office of AIDS Research (OAR) cosponsored a conference that brought together users of NIH information resources including health care providers, scientists, information specialists, journalists, and members of the community affected by HIV/AIDS with the purpose of reviewing the various HIV/AIDS information services available, assessing current efforts with respect to needs, and identifying unmet needs. Findings suggested that community organizations were at a disadvantage compared to not for profit organizations such as academic institutions, as they lacked the knowledge, skills, and technical means to access and provide the latest authoritative prevention, treatment and research information electronically over the Internet. As a result of the recommendations made during the conference, the NLM issued the first Request for Quotations (RFQ) for AIDS Community Information Outreach (ACIO) projects in May of 1994 with a purpose to improve the capacity of community organizations in an effort to eliminate the disparity of accessing HIV/AIDS related information at the local level. ACIO funding supports activities such as but not limited to: the acquisition of Internet access, software, computers and other mobile devices; training in the use of advanced technology as a means to access reliable and authoritative HIV/AIDS information from databases available from NLM and other reputable sources; and adapting these resources as educational tools that meet the cultural and linguistic preferences of the intended audience. In order to validate the impact and continued relevance of the ACIO Program after 20 years of funding more than 400 projects, NLM conducted a formal evaluation in 2012. Previously funded awardees were invited to a workshop where it was determined that the program goals from projects were being met, but greater emphasis and support should be given to building awardee's capacity in the area of program evaluation. NLM has continued to issue this solicitation into the year 2015. The ACIO program now offers project evaluation consultation and resources such as the ACIO Blog and capacity building webinars.