Dataset Information

Mentoring Young African American Men and Transgender Women Who Have Sex With Men on Sexual Health: Formative Research for an HIV Mobile Health Intervention for Mentors.

ABSTRACT:

Background

African American men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women bear a disproportionate burden of HIV. Young MSM account for 75% of this burden for youth. When youths lack socially protective resources such as strong networks of adults, including parents, teachers, or community members, mentors may play a critical role in promoting health behaviors. This is especially true for youth at risk for HIV, such as African American youth with sexual and gender minority (SGM) identities. In the past decade, natural mentoring and mentoring programs have proliferated as a key prevention and intervention strategy to improve outcomes for young people at risk for poor academic, social, and health issues. Mentors appear to be able to facilitate health promotion among young SGM by modeling healthy behaviors; however, mentors' knowledge and resource needs regarding sexual health topics including HIV are understudied, as is the potential role of mobile technology in enhancing mentoring relationships and the ability of mentors to learn about sensitive issues faced by youth.

Objective

The aim of this study is to explore how mentoring plays a role in the sexual health of African American SGM youth and understand how mentoring relationships can be strengthened through mobile technology to promote youth HIV prevention behaviors.

Methods

In-depth interviews were conducted with African American SGM youth mentees (n=17) and mentors (n=20) to such youths in 3 Mid-Atlantic cities. Mentee interviews focused on discussions regarding sexual health and HIV and how a mentor could broach such topics. Mentor interviews explored whether sexual health and HIV are currently mentoring topics, mentors' knowledge and confidence in mentoring on these issues, and barriers to discussions. All participants were asked if a mobile app could help facilitate mentoring on sensitive health issues, particularly HIV and sexual health. Data were transcribed, coded, and analyzed for relevant themes.

Results

Sexual health was a common topic in mentoring relationships, occurring more in natural mentorships than in mentoring program pairs. Mentors and mentees felt positive about such discussions. Mentors expressed having limited knowledge beyond condom use and HIV testing, and expressed a need for more complete resources. Both mentors and mentees had mixed comfort levels when discussing sexual health. Sufficient trust and shared lived experiences made discussions easier. Mentees have multifaceted needs; however, mentors stated that an app resource that provided self-training, resources, support from other mentors, and tips for better mentoring could prove beneficial.

Conclusions

For the African American SGM community, access to natural mentors is crucial for young people to learn healthy behaviors. A mobile resource to assist mentors in confidently having discussions with mentees may be a promising way to promote healthy practices.

SUBMITTER: Kaufman MR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7775199 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Mentoring Young African American Men and Transgender Women Who Have Sex With Men on Sexual Health: Formative Research for an HIV Mobile Health Intervention for Mentors.

Kaufman Michelle R MR Casella Albert A Wiginton John Mark JM Xu Wenjian W DuBois David L DL Arrington-Sanders Renata R Simon Jeannette J Levine Deb D

JMIR formative research 20201217 12

<h4>Background</h4>African American men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women bear a disproportionate burden of HIV. Young MSM account for 75% of this burden for youth. When youths lack socially protective resources such as strong networks of adults, including parents, teachers, or community members, mentors may play a critical role in promoting health behaviors. This is especially true for youth at risk for HIV, such as African American youth with sexual and gender minority (SGM) id ...[more]

PMID: 33331822

Similar Datasets

Project description:African American men (AA) carry unequal burdens of several conditions including cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and HIV. Engagement of diverse populations including AA men in research and health promotion practice is vital to examining the health disparities that continue to plague many racially and ethnically diverse communities. To date, there is little research on best practices that indicate locations, community areas and settings to engage AA men in research and health promotion. Traditionally, the AA church has been a key area to engage AA men and women. However, changing tides in attendance of AA parishioners require additional information to identify areas where AAs, particularly, AA men congregate. The AA barbershop has been identified as a place of social cohesion, cultural immersion and solidarity for AA men but specific sub-populations of AA men may be underrepresented. To further investigate additional locales where AA men congregate, this study engaged AA barbers and clients in several urban community barbershops in Chicago, Illinois. 127 AA men over age 18y/o receiving grooming services in 25 Chicago area barbershops across 14 predominantly AA communities were consented and recruited for a quantitative survey study. The self-administered surveys were completed in ~15 min and $10 compensation was provided to men. Descriptive statistics were reported for demographic variables and for frequency of responses for locations to find AA men of specific age ranges for health promotion and screening activities. Outside of the traditionally used churches or barbershops, the top recommended recruitment sites by age were: 18-29y/o- city park or a recreational center; 30-39y/o- gym, bars or the street; 40-49y/o- various stores, especially home improvement stores, and the mall; and 50y/o+- fast food restaurants in the mornings, such as McDonalds, and individual's homes. The study participants also reported that locations where AA men congregate vary by age. Findings from this study illustrate that AA barbers and barbershops remain a key stakeholder in health promotion among AA men. The findings also demonstrate the need for additional research to examine best practices for identifying locations where diverse groups of AA men that vary by age and sexual orientation may congregate in order to support increased health promotion among AA men.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Although teen pregnancy rates decreased dramatically in the United States over the past decade, the rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among adolescents and young adults increased. STI rates disproportionately affect African American youth and young adults. Innovative, accessible, and culturally relevant sexual health interventions are urgently needed. OBJECTIVE:This study aimed to identify the optimal modality for a game-based sexual health intervention; develop the educational, entertainment, and technological aspects of the serious game; and demonstrate its usability and acceptance by the target population. METHODS:This project was grounded in formative data collection with community-based participatory research principles and practices combined with a user-centered design and development approach. Sexually Active Adolescent-Focused Education (SAAFE) was developed using input and feedback from African American youths aged 15 to 21 years who participated in a youth advisory board and focus group discussions to inform the co-design and cocreation of the serious game. The process was highly iterative with multiple sessions for user input following design changes. It proceeded in 3 stages. Social cognitive theory and problem-solving theory were leveraged to provide evidence-based, trauma-informed education through a serious game. Usability testing assessed the quality of user experience with the prototype. RESULTS:Across all 3 stages, a total of 86 self-identified African American males and females aged 15 to 21 years from the District of Columbia and Birmingham, Alabama, participated. Participants requested a dating simulation game. They wanted SAAFE to be customizable, realistic, entertaining, educational, modern, and experiential, linking consequences to their gameplay decisions. Usability testing resulted in an initial System Usability Survey score of 77.7, placing the game in the 82nd percentile and above average for usability. CONCLUSIONS:Initial results suggest that the SAAFE prototype is a promising intervention to engage African American youth in sexual health education using a role-playing game. If proven efficacious, the game has the potential to meet the need for sex education, counterbalance unhealthy portrayals of sex in popular media, and respond to the disparities in the STI epidemic.

Project description:The incidence and mortality rates of prostate cancer are significantly higher in African-American men when compared to European-American men. We tested the hypothesis that differences in tumor biology contribute to this survival health disparity. Using microarray technology, we obtained gene expression profiles of primary prostate tumors resected from 33 African-American and 36 European-American patients. These tumors were matched on clinical parameters. We also evaluated 18 non-tumor prostate tissues from 7 African-American and 11 European-American patients. The resulting datasets were analyzed for expression differences on the gene and pathway level comparing African-American with European-American patients. Our analysis revealed a significant number of genes, e.g., 162 transcripts at a false-discovery rate less than 5%, to be differently expressed between African-American and European-American patients. Using a disease association analysis, we identified a common relationship of these transcripts with autoimmunity and inflammation. These findings were corroborated on the pathway level with numerous differently expressed genes clustering in immune response, stress response, cytokine signaling, and chemotaxis pathways. Furthermore, a two-gene tumor signature was identified that accurately differentiated between African-American and European-American patients. This finding was confirmed in a blinded analysis of a second sample set. In conclusion, the gene expression profiles of prostate tumors indicate prominent differences in tumor immunobiology between African-American and European-American men. The profiles portray the existence of a distinct tumor microenvironment in these two patient groups. Experiment Overall Design: A total of 69 fresh-frozen prostate tumors were obtained from the NCI Cooperative Prostate Cancer Tissue Resource (CPCTR) and the Department of Pathology at the University of Maryland (UMD). All tumors were resected adenocarcinomas that had not received any therapy prior to prostatectomy. The macro-dissected CPCTR tumor specimens (n = 59) were reviewed by a CPCTR-associated pathologist, who confirmed the presence of tumor in the specimens. These tissues were collected between 2002 and 2004 at four different sites, with each site providing tissues from both African-American and European-American patients. Information on race/ethnicity (33 African-Americans and 36 European-Americans) was either extracted from medical records (CPCTR) or obtained through an epidemiological questionnaire in which race/ethnicity was self-reported (UMD). Only one patient, a European-American, was also Hispanic. Surrounding non-tumor prostate tissue was collected from 18 of the recruited patients in this study. Of those, 7 were African-American men and 11 were European-American men. We also isolated total RNA from 10 needle biopsy specimens collected from patients at the National Naval Medical Center (one African-American and 9 European-Americans) that did not have prostate cancer. From those, we prepared two RNA pools, each representing 5 patients. Clinicopathological characteristics of the patients, including age at prostatectomy, histology, Gleason score, pathological stage, PSA at diagnosis, tumor size, extraprostatic extension, margin involvement, and seminal vesicle invasion were obtained from CPCTR. For UMD cases, this information was extracted from the medical and pathology records, if available. Written informed consent was obtained from all donors. Tissue collection and study design were approved by the institutional review boards of the participating institutions.

Project description:BackgroundGay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) face the highest burden of HIV in the United States, and there is a paucity of efficacious mobile health (mHealth) HIV prevention and care interventions tailored specifically for GBMSM. We tested a mobile app combining prevention messages and access to core prevention services for GBMSM.ObjectiveThis study aims to measure the efficacy of the Mobile Messaging for Men (M-cubed) app and related services to increase HIV prevention and care behaviors in diverse US GBMSM.MethodsWe conducted a randomized open-label study with a waitlist control group among GBMSM in 3 groups (low-risk HIV-negative group, high-risk HIV-negative group, and living-with-HIV [LWH] group) recruited online and in venues in Atlanta, Detroit, and New York City. Participants were randomly assigned to receive access to the app immediately or at 9 months after randomization. The app provided prevention messages in 6 domains of sexual health and offered ordering of at-home HIV and sexually transmitted infection test kits, receiving preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) evaluations and navigation, and service locators. Serostatus- and risk-specific prevention outcomes were evaluated at baseline, at the end of the intervention period, and at 3, 6, and 9 months after the intervention period.ResultsIn total, 1226 GBMSM were enrolled and randomized; of these 611 (49.84%) were assigned to the intervention group and 608 (99.51%) were analyzed, while 615 (50.16%) were assigned to the control group and 612 (99.51%) were analyzed. For high-risk GBMSM, allocation to the intervention arm was associated with higher odds of HIV testing during the intervention period (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.02, 95% CI 1.11-3.66) and with higher odds of using PrEP in the 3 months after the intervention period (aOR 2.41, 95% CI 1.00-5.76, P<.05). No changes in HIV prevention or care were associated with allocation to the intervention arm for the low-risk HIV-negative and LWH groups.ConclusionsAccess to the M-cubed app was associated with increased HIV testing and PrEP use among high-risk HIV-negative GBMSM in 3 US cities. The app could be made available through funded HIV prevention providers; additional efforts are needed to understand optimal strategies to implement the app outside of the research setting.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03666247; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03666247.International registered report identifier (irrid)RR2-10.2196/16439.

Dataset Information

Mentoring Young African American Men and Transgender Women Who Have Sex With Men on Sexual Health: Formative Research for an HIV Mobile Health Intervention for Mentors.

Background

Objective

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Mentoring Young African American Men and Transgender Women Who Have Sex With Men on Sexual Health: Formative Research for an HIV Mobile Health Intervention for Mentors.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets