A Snapshot of How Latino Heterosexual Men Promote Sexual Health Within Their Social Networks: Process Evaluation Findings from an Efficacious Community-Level Intervention

HoMBReS was a community-level social network intervention designed to increase sexual health among Latino heterosexual men who were members of a multi-county soccer league

Promoting Community and Population Health in Public Health and Medicine: A Stepwise Guide to Initiating and Conducting Community-engaged Research

Various methods, approaches, and strategies designed to understand and reduce health disparities, increase health equity, and promote community and population health have emerged within public health and medicine. One such approach is community-engaged research. While the literature describing the theory, principles, and rationale underlying community engagement is broad, few models or frameworks exist to guide its implementation. We abstracted, analyzed, and interpreted data from existing project documentation including proposal documents, project-specific logic models, research team and partnership meeting notes, and other materials from 24 funded community-engaged research projects conducted over the past 17 years. We developed a 15-step process designed to guide the community-engaged research process. The process includes steps such as: networking and partnership establishment and expansion; building and maintaining trust; identifying health priorities; conducting background research, prioritizing “what to take on”; building consensus, identifying research goals, and developing research questions; developing a conceptual model; formulating a study design; developing an analysis plan; implementing the study; collecting and analyzing data; reviewing and interpreting results; and disseminating and translating findings broadly through multiple channels. Here, we outline and describe each of these steps

What Do Men Who Serve as Lay Health Advisers Really Do?: Immigrant Latino Men Share their Experiences as Navegantes to Prevent HIV

HoMBReS was a lay health advisor (LHA) intervention designed to reduce sexual risk among recently-arrived, non-English-speaking Latino men who were members of a multi-county soccer league in central NC

Prevalence Estimates of Health Risk Behaviors of Immigrant Latino Men Who Have Sex With Men

Little is known about the health status of rural immigrant Latino men who have sex with men (MSM). These MSM comprise a subpopulation that tends to remain “hidden” from both researchers and practitioners. This study was designed to estimate the prevalence of tobacco, alcohol, and drug use, and sexual risk behaviors of Latino MSM living in rural North Carolina

A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Culturally Congruent Intervention to Increase Condom Use and HIV Testing Among Heterosexually Active Immigrant Latino Men

This randomized controlled trial tested the efficacy of an HIV prevention intervention to increase condom use and HIV testing among Spanish-speaking, heterosexually active immigrant Latino men. A community-based participatory research partnership developed the intervention and selected the study design. Following baseline data collection, 142 immigrant Latino men were randomized to the HIV prevention intervention or the cancer education intervention. Three-month follow-up data were collected from 139 participants, for a 98% retention rate. Mean age of participants was 31.6 years and 60% reported being from Mexico. Adjusting for baseline behaviors, relative to their peers in the cancer education comparison, participants in the HIV prevention intervention were more likely to report consistent condom use and receiving an HIV test. Community-based interventions for immigrant Latino men that are built on state of the art prevention science and developed in partnership with community members can greatly enhance preventive behaviors and may reduce HIV infection

A CBPR Partnership Increases HIV Testing Among Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM): Outcome Findings From a Pilot Test of the CyBER/testing Internet Intervention

The Internet has emerged as an important tool for the delivery of health promotion and disease prevention interventions. Our community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnership developed and piloted CyBER/testing, a culturally congruent intervention designed to promote HIV testing among men who have sex with men (MSM) within existing Internet chat rooms. Using a quasi-experimental, single-group study design, cross-sectional data were collected from chat room participants, known as “chatters,” at pretest (n=346) and post-test (n=315). Extant profile data also were collected to describe the demographics of the online population. The intervention significantly increased self-reported HIV testing among chatters overall, increasing rates from 44.5% at pretest to nearly 60% at post-test (p<.001). Furthermore, chatters who reported having both male and female sexual partners had nearly 6 times the odds of reporting HIV testing at post-test. Findings suggest that chat room-based HIV testing intervention may increase testing among MSM who may be difficult to reach in traditional physical spaces

A Pilot Intervention Utilizing Internet Chat Rooms to Prevent HIV Risk Behaviors Among Men Who Have Sex with Men

Chat room-based prevention interventions for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are being implemented to reduce the risk of HIV exposure, infection, and re-infection among men who have sex with men (MSM)

A Snapshot of How Latino Heterosexual Men Promote Sexual Health Within Their Social Networks: Process Evaluation Findings from an Efficacious Community-Level Intervention

BACKGROUND: HoMBReS was a community-level social network intervention designed to increase sexual health among Latino heterosexual men who were members of a multi-county soccer league. METHODS: We used process data collected each month during 18 months of intervention implementation from each of 15 trained Latino male lay health advisors (known as Navegantes) to explore the activities that Navegantes conducted to increase condom and HIV testing among their social network members. RESULTS: The Navegantes reported conducting 2,364 activities, for a mean of 8.8 activities per Navegante per month. The most common activity was condom distribution. Most activities were conducted with men; about 2% were conducted with women. Among activities conducted with men, half were conducted with soccer teammates and half with non-teammates. CONCLUSIONS: Latino men’s social networks can be leveraged to promote sexual health within the community. Innovative methods that reach large numbers of community members are needed given the lack of prevention resources for populations disproportionately impacted by HIV and STDs