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

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.