In early September, thousands of advocates from across the nation gathered in Orlando, FL for the 2018 United States Conference on AIDS (USCA). They attended sessions, hosted trainings, networked, and celebrated the resiliency and diversity of the HIV movement.
The AIDSVu team was excited to represent AIDSVu at our booth in the Exhibit Hall, as well as through a special workshop, “Using Data for Action: How to Reach Your Community, Policymakers, and Grantors with AIDSVu Data Visualization.”
Led by a panel of dynamic speakers, attendees learned about how AIDSVu’s maps, data, service locators, and infographics can be used by advocates, researchers, grant writers, and health departments. Our esteemed panelists included:
- Nic Carlisle, Executive Director, Southern AIDS Coalition, who spoke about the use of AIDSVu in advocacy;
- Bisola O. Ojikutu, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, who spoke about the use of AIDSVu in academic research;
- Jose Bauermeister, D., MPH, Professor of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, who spoke about the use of AIDSVu in grant writing; and
- Amanda D. Castel, MD, MPH, Associate Professor, Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, who spoke about the use of AIDSVu by health departments.
Throughout the workshop, our panelists provided the audience with practical, real-world examples of how they have used AIDSVu in their work to:
- Change government leaders’ views on the local HIV epidemic using maps and visualizing service deserts;
- Geocode PrEP service locations to determine whether proximity to services impacts willingness to use PrEP;
- Visually show where funding should be allocated due to need and/or lack of services in grant proposals; and
- Educate health department stakeholders, plan resource allocation, and monitor trends locally.
These are only a few examples of how AIDSVu can be used to inform and advance public health decision-making. To view more details about these examples, you can review the slides here. AIDSVu’s mission is to make data widely available, easily accessible, and locally relevant to inform public health decision-making. If the AIDSVu team can be of assistance in your work, please reach out to us at info@aidsvuv32stg.wpengine.com. We want to hear from you.
