Utilizing a participant-driven approach to design and implement an online HIV prevention intervention for young Black MSM and Black Transwomen

Issues:  Young (aged 18 to 30) black men who have sex with men (YBMSM) have a higher rate of HIV incidence when compared to other racial and age groups.  There is a need for programs which are culturally-based rather than adapted.  When working with specific sub-cultures like the house/ball community, the community driven participatory approach to intervention development, implementation, and evaluation becomes even more important.

Description:  To better serve this population we developed a new, culturally-based HIV prevention intervention.  To increase its acceptability and impact we engaged members of the target population in its design and subsequent implementation.  The project’s website consists of holistic health content including HIV/STD information, a video series about sexual risk created by the target population, career/education advice, blogs, and other social networking activities designed to build community.

Lesson Learned: Involving members of the project population is critical to understand and address the specific needs, strengths, and vulnerabilities of the targeted group.  We created a collaborative council to provide leadership from the community and empowered a “street team” to provide specific feedback to guide development and implementation. Further, we acknowledge the differences among and within sub-groups, such as the house/ball and transgender communities, and include elements in the intervention specifically designed for each, such as unique aspects of sexual risk behaviors. 

Recommendation: Cultural tailoring of an existing evidence-based intervention is good practice; however, it is better practice to invite members of the population to contribute to and provide leadership for design of a new culturally-based intervention.