title: An HIV intervention tailored for black young men who have sex with men in the House Ball Community.
abstract: Black young men who have sex with men (BYMSM) are the group most disproportionately impacted by HIV in the USA and most in need of efficacious interventions to address community-level factors that increase their vulnerability to HIV. The House Ball Community (HBC) is a distinct social network within the larger BYMSM community that may be particularly vulnerable to social norms and stigma around HIV. This study tailored an evidence-based, community-level popular opinion leader (OL) intervention for use within the HBC. The intervention, called Promoting Ovahness through Safer Sex Education (POSSE), was then piloted to evaluate feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy. Recruiting OLs from the community and training them to deliver risk reduction messages were found to be feasible and highly acceptable. Community-level surveys (n = 406) were completed over five waves of data collection. Overall exposure to the intervention increased across waves. Statistically significant (p < .05) declines were observed for multiple sexual partners, condomless anal intercourse with any male partners, and with male partners of unknown HIV status. HIV stigma declined as well, but the trend was not statistically significant.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry , John Stroger Hospital of Cook County , Chicago , IL , USA.
authors.forename: Sybil G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Hosek
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lemos
authors.forename: Anna L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Hotton
authors.forename: M Isabel
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.forename: Kyle
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Telander
authors.forename: Dana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Footer
authors.forename: Margo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice / Q000208:ethnology*; D018451:Homosexuality, Male / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D012309:Risk-Taking; D057545:Social Stigma; D012944:Social Support; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000208:ethnology; D063106:Transgender Persons; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D047568:Unsafe Sex / Q000208:ethnology
keywords: HIV; community interventions; youth