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LGBTQ populations, particularly Black men who have sex with men and transgender women, experience significant HIV disparities; public health messages may inadvertently stigmatize LGBTQ populations. We sought to use qualitative methods to inform a PrEP campaign. Unstructured focus groups were conducted among predominantly Black LGBTQ persons recruited through social media and events. Discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed in NVivo using categorical analysis. Eighty individuals participated in 13 focus groups; 80% (64) identified as sexual or gender minorities. Eighty-eight percent (70) identified as Black/African American. Four themes emerged: (1) culturally competent, community-informed, locally relevant messaging, (2) avoiding stigmatizing language or images, (3) inaccessibility of clinical language, and (4) using identity labels representing local communities and their diversity. Findings suggest PrEP campaigns need to be developed through community-informed processes to engage and avoid stigmatizing priority populations. Ongoing partnerships between public health and LGBTQ communities can facilitate development of campaigns with engaging, acceptable language.

particularly for highly vulnerable groups. There was variation in comprehension of research concepts, but the majority of the adolescents demonstrated good comprehension of informed consent. Informed consent can be improved by assessing understanding throughout consent, encouraging active processing, improving message communication, and emphasizing confidentiality. Inclusion of orphans and vulnerable children add increased complexities regarding parental consent, assessing risk, and benefits. Conclusions: Data support the inclusion of children and adolescents in HIV research. Empiric research can inform consent processes and procedural safeguards to ensure appropriate access.

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