RCAP co-director Susan Dreisbach retires
The directors of the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention are sorry to inform you that one its co-directors, Susan Dresibach, PhD, has retired and will no longer serve RCAP as co-director. Susan recently retired as assistant research professor, Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences, at the University of Colorado Denver. Susan will continue to be affiliated with RCAP as co-director emeritus.
Dr. Dreisbach was an RCAP co-director nearly a decade and made numerous and significant contributions to the mission of RCAP and to advancing HIV/STD prevention in rural American. Among her noteworthy contributions was senior editor of the RCAP guidelines, Tearing Down Fences: HIV/STD Prevention in Rural America (2009). FENCES is the first and only guide for HIV/STD prevention for rural communities published in the United States. The need and value of this guide is illustrated by the fact that over 6000 copies have been distributed, upon request, to prevention specialists throughout the country. This landmark guide continues to provide prevention strategies and resources as a “living document” on the RCAP website. Susan’s wisdom and leadership made FENCES a valuable contribution to controlling HIV/STD in rural America.
Susan wrote RCAP fact sheets including HIV/AIDS in Rural America: Challenges and Promising Strategies (2009) and Rural Methamphetamine Use and HIV/STD Risk (2006). The fact sheets have been highly popular with numerous downloads from the RCAP website. Susan also made several presentations at the RCAP national conference and authored publications for the RCAP monograph, many of which reported the results of rural prevention needs assessment that helped shape RCAP activities.
Susan’s commitment to HIV/STD prevention in rural communities has been a valuable asset to RCAP. RCAP has been fortunate to have her as a co-director as very few people have the wisdom of HIV/STD prevention needs of rural America as Susan. Thanks, Susan, for all that you did for RCAP and rural America. We will always be grateful.
Anne M. Bowen, PhD, is appointed RCAP co-director
The co-directors of the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention are pleased to announce that Anne M. Bowen, PhD, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, has been appointed an RCAP co-director. Dr. Bowen is professor in the Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing and Director of the Nightingale Center for Nursing Scholarship. Anne has made several presentations at the RCAP national conference and published in the RCAP monograph. Prior to this appointment Anne was an RCAP research fellow.
Dr. Bowen is a licensed clinical psychologist with interesting in Health Promotion and interventions for people with chronic illness. Her research focuses on reducing risks for acquiring and transmitting the HIV virus. She is especially interested in developing interventions for rural people. She recently completed and Internet intervention for rural MSM with exciting results and is currently developing an Internet intervention to reduce depression among rural men who have sex with men. The intervention will be innovative in that the approach utilizes the techniques of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Mindfulness to help men live the life they want to live.
Anne has just completed a qualitative study with rural methamphetamine users in Wyoming. She is also engaged in cross cultural work and developing HIV risk reduction interventions for urban drug users in Tanzania. Finally, she is mentoring graduate students and nursing faculty on projects examining HPV vaccine acceptance, health care for women who have sex with women, women screening for breast and cervical cancer, and factors affecting rural peoples’ use of the internet to obtain health information.
RCAP Creates Koop Graduate Student Research Grants
RCAP announced the establishment of an endowed research grant, the Surgeon General C. Everett Koop HIV/AIDS Research grant, on October 14, 2011, the eve of Dr. Koop’s 95th birthday on October 15. Beginning in the 2012-2013 academic year this grant will be awarded annually by RCAP on a competitive basis nationally to support doctoral student research related to HIV/AIDS prevention. Click here to see the press release about this grant. Application information will be provided in Spring 2012 in the Student Support icon on the left part of the RCAP homepage.
RCAP Presents Award to Dr. James W. Curran
James W. Curran, MD, MPH, received the 2011 Ryan White Distinguished Leadership Award from RCAP at RCAP national conference, April 2011. Dr. Curran is Dean and Professor of Epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, since 1995. In 2009, the Deanship of the School was endowed in his honor and he holds the position as the first James W. Curran Dean of Public Health. Since 1997, he has also served as Principal Investigator and Co-Director of the Emory Center for AIDS Research, funded by the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Curran has been author of more than 260 scientific publications. He is immediate past Chair of the Office of AIDS Research Council of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Curran came to Emory from the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention where he served for over two decades. From 1981 to 1995 he was a leader of CDC’s HIV research and prevention efforts.
RCAP Appoints Two Student Research Assistants
Nicky Bennett and Christiana von Hippel, MPH students in the Department of Applied Health Science at Indiana University, have been appointed RCAP research assistants for the 2011-2012 academic year. They will assist in RJCAP projects and join Alex Marshall, PhD candidate in health behavior at IU, who is also a RCAP research assistant. Brief bios of these students are in our About Us section.
Dr. Beth Meyerson becomes RCAP Co-Director
The RCAP Directors are pleased to announce a new RCAP co-director, Beth Meyerson, MDiv, PhD, a new assistant professor of health policy & management in the Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University, Bloomington. Dr. Meyerson is a superb addition to RCAP and her expertise will greatly contribute to the RCAP mission. We are most pleased that she has become part of the RCAP team. See the bios of RCAP directors under About Us to learn more about Beth.
RCAP 2011 Monograph
In cooperation with Eta Sigma Gamma National Professional Health Education Honorary (ESG), RCAP recently published a special edition of the ESG monograph, “The Eighth Special Issue on AIDS/STD Education and Prevention in Rural Communities.” This special issue includes seven invited papers and four brief program reports. The lead article by Susan Dreisbach, RCAP co-director, describes the report of 230 respondents from 44 states concerning rural HIV/STD prevention needs, barriers and programs. Go to the Monograph tab on left side of page for a PDF of the entire monograph. Free copies of the monograph are available upon request to RCAP.
RCAP 2011 Conference Plenary PowerPoints
The RCAP conference, HIV/STD Prevention in Rural Communities: Sharing Successful Strategies VII, April 7-9, 2-011, at Indiana University, Bloomington, attracted over 150 participants from over 20 states and a record number oral presentations. The PowerPoint presentations and link to five plenary presentations are provided here: James W. Curran of Emory University, AIDS at 30 years: Lessons learned and challenges ahead (click here); Robert Foley of the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center, Prevention and advocacy in an era of reality, recession, and recission (click here); Lenadro Mena of University of Mississippi Medical Center, Preventing HIV among AA MSM in the Deep South in a context of stigma, homophobia, poverty, and high STD rates (click here); Leticia Manning of the Office of Rural Health Policy, Office of Rural Health Policy: Rural community-based practices on HIV/AIDS (click here); Cornelis Rietmeyer of Colorado School of Public Health, HIV/STI prevention and the (not so new) media (click here); and Richard A. Crosby, Cynthia A. Graham, Robin R. Milhausen, Stephanie A. Sanders, and William L. Yarber, Condom-use errors and problems: A decade of research by The Kinsey Institute Condom Use Research Team (click here).
Jeanne White Ginder Becomes Affiliated with RCAP
Jeanne White Ginder, mother of Ryan White, has been appointed by the RCAP directors as a Special Advisor to the Senior Director. Jeanne will assist RCAP in specific projects, particularly those dealing with HIV/STD education for youth. Since Ryan’s death in 1990, Jeanne has been a spokesperson for AIDS education and the rights of people with AIDS. She travels the country and the world speaking to groups and has worked with Congress for the creation and continuation of the “Ryan White Care Act.”
RCAP Presents Award to Dr. Waibel
Jill S. Waibel, MD, received the 2010 Ryan White Distinguished Leadership Award from RCAP at the remembrance event of the 20th anniversary of death of Ryan White at Indiana University (see News item below). Dr. Waibel and Dr. C. Everett Kopp were both recipients of this recognition in 2010. Dr. Waibel was a teenage friend of Ryan White who helped him gain acceptance in the Hamilton Heights School District in Cicero, Indiana. She founded the Indiana University Dance Marathon in 1991, now an annual event that raises money for the Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, Indiana and the Ryan White Infectious Disease Center at the Indiana University School of Medicine. The Indiana University Dance Marathon is the second largest campus dance marathon in the country and has raised over $8.5 million. Click here to see the news release from Indiana University about the award presentation.
Indiana University Commemorates Ryan White's Struggle
When 13-year-old Ryan White was barred from attending school after contracting HIV from a tainted blood transfusion in 1984, he and his mother began fighting not only for his life, but for the rights of people living with HIV and AIDS.
Twenty Years After Ryan White: Remembrance Event
Indiana University hosted a public event, "AIDS Education: 20 Years Since Ryan White," honoring the 20th anniversary of Ryan White's death and the profound influence the Indiana teenager had in the area of HIV/AIDS awareness. This event featured White's mother, Jeanne White Ginder, who has been a tireless and effective spokesperson for AIDS education and the rights of people with HIV/AIDS.
Click here for a PDF of the program.
Click here to see the news release from Indiana University about the event.
Ryan White Legacy Scholarship
RCAP and the IU School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation has created the Ryan White Legacy Scholarship in the honor of the 20th anniversary of the death of Ryan White, a rural Indiana teenager who died of AIDS, April 8, 1990. Income from these gifts will be used to support graduate scholarships to students pursuing a Master of Public Health degree at Indiana University-Bloomington, in the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, with preference to students studying AIDS/STD prevention or sexual health.
RCAP Presents Award to Dr. Koop
Dr. C. Everett Koop received the 2010 Ryan White Distinguished Leadership Award from RCAP on March 17,2010. Jeanne White Ginder, whole son Ryan’s battle with HIV made him a national hero in the fight against AIDS, and RCAP senior director, Bill Yarber, presented the award to Koop at the Dartmouth Medical School in Hanover, N.H. While serving as US Surgeon General in the 1980s. Koop was the first federal authority to provide clear and explicit information about HIV transmission and prevention. He mailed a pamphlet, “Understanding AIDS,” every household in America, including the rural communities served by RCAP. Click here to see the new release from Indiana University about the award presentation.
New Fact Sheet Available
RCAP recently developed a new fact sheet, "HIV/AIDS in rural America: Challenges and Promising Strategies.” Click the “Fact Sheets” tab for a PDF copy.
Proceedings of RCAP 2009 National Conference Now Available
The sixth national conference focusing on HIV/STD prevention in rural areas was conducted in April 2009 at Indiana University, Bloomington. The conference, HIV Prevention in Rural Communities: Sharing Successful Strategies VI, was co-sponsored by RCAP and the National Rural Health Association. The goal of the conference was to present model HIV prevention education programs utilized in various rural settings throughout the United States, with emphasis on information exchange and lessons learned. A keynote address and plenary, oral and poster presentations were made.
A PDF copy of the conference proceedings which include the program, brief papers and abstracts is presented here (click here). A hard copy of the proceedings are available, free, for individual requests by emailing RCAP and providing complete mailing address.
RCAP Conference Plenary PowerPoints
The RCAP conference, HIV/STD Prevention in Rural Communities: Sharing Successful Strategies VI, April 16-18, 2009, at Indiana University Bloomington, attracted over 175 rural prevention specialists from over 30 states. The conference was one of the most successful RCAP meetings with numerous outstanding presentations.
The PowerPoint presentations of two plenaries are provided here: Charles Collins of the CDC, Dissemination of effective behavioral interventions in rural America with preview of the New DEBIs (click here) and James Markiewicz of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Rugged, rural, resourceful: Delivering HIV and STD messages to gay men and other MSM through community building groups (click here).
New Rural Guidelines Published
RCAP released a new publication at the its national conference in April, 2009, titled Tearing Down Fences: HIV/STD Prevention in Rural America (pp. 118). This guide is the first to focus on HIV/STD prevention is rural communities, and reflects the perspective of the HIV/STD Prevention Work Group as well as other selected rural HIV/STD professionals. Leaders in HIV/STD prevention in rural areas throughout the United States (the Work Group) were identified and provided the foundational messages of the guide during a meeting at the RCAP campus of Indiana University.
FENCES was sponsored by RCAP and five co-sponsors: National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors, National Association of People with AIDS, National Coalition of STD Directors, National Minority AIDS Council and the National Rural Health Association. The final document was developed by senior editor and RCAP co-director, Susan Dreisbach and the RCAP staff.
Hard copies of FENCES are available now by contacting RCAP. Individual copies or multiple copies for professional HIV/STD staff members, in-service training and conferences are available. A PDF copy of Fences can be found at the Prevention Guidelines tab.
RCAP Founding Considered “Scientific Touchstone at IU”
The February 2009 issue of the Indiana University, Bloomington publication, Home Pages, focused on highlighting the life sciences at IU. The publication identified nearly 125 “scientific touchstones at IU” in its history from 1820 to 2009. We are pleased to learn that the founding of RCAP in 1994 was cited among these scientific touchstones. Home Pages is published by the IU Office of the Vice President for Public Affairs and Government Relations.
Ryan White Distinguished Leadership Award
RCAP has initiated an award to recognize outstanding leadership in HIV/STD prevention, called the Ryan White Distinguished Leadership Award. This award is in recognition of Ryan White, a rural Indiana youth who contracted HIV in 1984 and died in 1990. Ryan faced discrimination that drew national attention. He was a powerful spokesperson for AIDS research and education. This award will be given at each RCAP national conference.
The first recipient of this award is Jeanne White Ginder, Ryan's mother. Jeanne became an advocate for HIV/AIDS education and an activist for the rights of persons living with HIV/AIDS after her son was banned from school. Jeanne is a most deserving first recipient of the Ryan White Distinguished Leadership Award.
The award was presented to Jeanne at the RCAP 2009 national conference by Dr. Robert M. Goodman (at left) Dean of the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation at Indiana University and Dr. William L. Yarber, RCAP Senior Director.
New Fact Sheets Available
RCAP recently developed three new fact sheets, “Computer Technology-Based HIV Prevention Interventions”, "Behavioral Interventions for Reducing Sexual Risk", and "HIV/AIDS Mass Media Campaigns." Click the “Fact Sheets” tab for a PDF copy.
Native American Communities Guidelines Available
In collaboration with the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center,RCAP has developed the prevention guidelines, HIV/STD Prevention Guidelines for Native American Communities: American Indians, Alaskan Natives, & Native Hawaiians. Contact RCAP to request free copies. Also, the entire document is available as PDF files on the tab "Prevention Guidelines".
