Adhering to our mission of bridging the gap between research and practice, the specific aims of the Community Dissemination/ Outreach Core are to: (1) establish innovative partnerships between academic institutions and community groups/organizations towards eliminating health disparities in HIV/AIDS that affect the Latino communities; and (2) disseminate evidence-based intervention information to the Latino communities most affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic as well as to policy makers and service providers.


Some activities of the Core include:

“You Gotta Know!/ Hay Que Saber!” Campaign (2005-2006): The Center launched this Campaign to curb the spread of HIV among youth (mainly of Latino descent) in Miami Dade County. The Campaign was partly funded by the Miami-Dade County Department of Health. It involved several visits to high schools and colleges and participation in ethnic/public health events and other community settings (i.e., the Community Health Fair Day at Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School, and the Martin Luther King Parade). More than 1,200 youth was reached through the Campaign.

An important component of this Campaign was the HIV Transmission Awareness and Knowledge Survey. This survey was conducted with 394 college students aged 18-35 in Miami-Dade County. It collected information on four themes of HIV/AIDS knowledge/awareness: prevention, stigma, transmission, and general information about HIV resources. The average age of survey respondents was 22 years. The majority of the respondents (95%) identified themselves as Latino. The survey indicated a significant lack of knowledge about HIV/AIDS among the participants. Only 18% of the respondents answered all the questions correctly about basic HIV prevention, stigma, and transmission information. Breastfeeding was the least identified mode of transmission for HIV by the participants.

View our campaign booklets in English and Spanish.


Town Hall Meeting (January 2005): The Center organized this meeting with representatives from 13 Community Based Organizations (CBOs) in Miami-Dade County. The meeting was partly funded by Rural Opportunities in New York and Border Health Foundation in Arizona (funded through Center for Disease Control, CDC). Its main purpose was to obtain information on the CBOs’ knowledge and application of Evidence Based Practices (EBPs) as defined by CDC for Latinos at risk of and living with HIV/AIDS.

The Town Hall included two focus group meetings, which revealed that the knowledge and application of CBO personnel in Miami-Dade County on EBPs was extremely limited. Many CBO personnel were critical of the usefulness of EBPs for their daily routines. They simply were not sure if they should devote their time and energy to learning such practices since they have to cope with immediate needs of their consumers (i.e., poverty, immigration problems, and housing) on a daily basis.
View more information on the Town Hall Meeting



Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Analyses on HIV/AIDS Service Providers (2006-2007): The Center conducted a GIS analysis in order to identify Latino neighborhoods that are not currently served by of HIV service providers in Miami Dade County. GIS is a computer system capable of capturing, storing, analyzing, and displaying geographically referenced information. The analysis was conducted as part of Dr. Sukumar Ganapati’s pilot project called the “Impact of 2005 Hurricane Season on HIV/ AIDS Health Services in Miami Dade County”.

As part of this project using GIS analysis, we first identified census tracts that have majority Latino populations in 2000 in the County. We then mapped zip codes that have had high incidence of AIDS cases (>550 cases) through 2005 as well as the location of HIV/AIDS service providers. The analysis revealed that two Latino majority census tracts in Miami-Dade County, namely Little Havana (Tract #33125) and Doral/Medley (Tract #33178), had high AIDS incidence rates. However, the overlay of the location of HIV/AIDS service providers indicated that none of the HIV/AIDS providers were located in these census tracts while there were providers in nearby areas. The GIS analysis suggested the need to link people to services in these census tracts.

View these two census tracts.
Click here to view other GIS maps on HIV/AIDS service providers


Media Appearances: The Center affiliates have made more than 80 appearances on issues associated with HIV risk behavior among the Latino populations and other ethnic/ racial groups in such local and national news media venues as Telemundo (a national Spanish TV station), and local radio stations (e.g. Radio Caracol (1220 AM); NBC/Telemundo Spanish Network Group). View list of selected Media Appearances


La Calle Newsletter: The Center published its first newsletter called La Calle in October 2004. The newsletter was distributed to the CBOs in Miami-Dade County and the university community, as well as to Miami-Dade High School counselors with the help of Drug Free Youth in Town programs.