Diffusing persuasive HIV testing messages: engaging Black sexual and gender minority youth social media influencers

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PROJECT SUMMARY The combined mentorship, training and research in this K01 award will support the candidate’s long term goal of formulating high impact, community-engaged HIV health disparities and social media-based research focused on sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) of color in the South. HIV remains an insidious public health concern among Black SGMY in the South. Diagnose is one of the 4 Pillars of the Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) Initiative and routine testing is a clear priority for this population. Infrequent or never testing for HIV has been associated with high rates of infection in Black SGMY. Routine HIV testing could provide a central gateway for linkage to HIV prevention services for those at risk or early access to care for those unaware of their status; however, stigma-related barriers to testing persist (e.g, internalized homophobia, HIV-related stigma). Stigmatized Black SGMY may be more isolated and many turn to social media. Leveraging social networks, such as through Popular Opinion Leaders (POLs), via social media can increase social support and destigmatize and normalize routine HIV testing. Despite its popularity, Instagram has not been utilized in HIV-focused interventions, including among Black SGMY. Instagram influencers are authentic and credible social media users who are, in essence, POLs. This project proposes to enhance the EHE-recommended POL intervention promoting routine HIV testing in Black SGMY in New Orleans. The project will employ 8 Black SGMY Instagram influencers to implement a novel, theoretically-grounded approach to crafting persuasive HIV testing messages to their followers. To this end, the candidate will: 1) Explore HIV testing attitudes and experiences and the use of non-stigmatizing Instagram messaging to increase routine HIV testing for Black SGMY in New Orleans; 2) Identify, recruit and train Black SGMY Instagram influencers on HIV knowledge and social-media based messaging strategies using a novel framework for persuasive messaging; 3) Co-develop and deliver persuasive routine HIV testing Instagram messages with Black SGMY Instagram influencers. A team of experienced mentors with expertise in Black SGMY health disparities, HIV intervention development, persuasion theory, social media messaging and community-based participatory research (CBPR) will guide the candidate through the research. The diverse training plan will consist of multidisciplinary didactic coursework, individualized training workshops and mentoring sessions, which will allow the candidate to: 1) Understand how the intersection of multiple stigmatized identities (i.e., racial, gender and sexual) and related experiences contribute to HIV-related disparities among Black SGMY; 2) Develop proficiency in persuasive social media-based health communication strategies; 3) Gain skills in the development/ adaptation, implementation and evaluation of interventions utilizing CBPR. This K01 award will give the candidate the additional skills and experience needed to achieve research independence.