EVALUATING HIV PREVENTION COMMUNITY-PLANNING

To improve human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention efforts natio nwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has funded HIV Prevention Community Planning, an initiative that promotes parity , representativeness, and inclusion of community and the application o f scientific principles for decision making. This initiative was welco med enthusiastically in New York City, an AIDS epicenter with limited prevention resources. In the first year of implementation, the New Yor k City Department of Health (NYCDOH) supported a comprehensive evaluat ion of the planning initiative This article reviews the evaluation des ign, including its process and outcome components, the study findings, and its strengths and limitations. It provides overall guidance for t hose who are assessing prevention planning in HIV as well as other hea lth areas.