258286 Black Heterosexual Men in HIV Research: Not so “Hard to Reach” After All

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 : 8:30 AM - 8:50 AM

David Malebranche, MD, MPH , Division of General Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Brandi Park, MPH , General Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Lithia Springs, GA
Robert Agans, PhD , Department of Biostatistics, 730 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Chapel Hill, NC
William D. Kalsbeek , Biostatistics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Bernard Owens Jr. , General Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
Alanna Mckelvey-Stone , General Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
Leonard Moore , General Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
Jeffery Roman , General Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA
Lisa Bowleg, PhD , School of Public Health, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA
Black communities in the United States experience disparate outcomes in many public health issues. Research focused on these communities and their participation is vital in addressing these racial disparities. We will present how Project ADOFO's research team, in conjunction with other researchers and community representatives, successfully created strategies for recruiting Black males for survey participation. We fostered a community, interdisciplinary, and organizational-based collaboration that emphasized exploring the broader social and structural contexts factoring into the HIV risk protective and promoting behavior of all Black men. Working with a diverse community advisory board that had experience with Black health issues, we met on a quarterly basis to discuss recruitment tactics and survey revisions. We took a 4 step approach to survey development that included: 1) creating interview guide questions based on community advisory board feedback; 2) conducting pilot interviews in order to develop a survey that used the participants' own language; 3) conducting focus groups and cognitive interviews; and 4) meeting with the community advisory board to make final revisions based on their input. A broader approach to sexual health and HIV prevention for Black men was well received by our community and organizational collaborators, advisory board and study participants alike. The fifteen minute instrument that emerged was used to successfully conduct 1264 surveys through random digit dialing methods. Involving community stakeholders from the outset in an innovative HIV research project highlighting sexual health among Black men was invaluable to acceptance and engagement in the study.

Learning Areas:
Diversity and culture
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe an interdisciplinary approach to survey development and implementation for Black men. 2. Discuss facilitators and barriers to successful community and participant engagement in public health research targeting Black men. 3. Identify potential future implications for this approach in public health research addressing Black men’s health.

Keywords: African American, HIV/AIDS

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been conducting HIV prevention research with Black men for over 10 years, with multiple publications and presentations on this topic
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.