Mentoring Young African American Men and Transgender Women Who Have Sex With Men on Sexual Health: Formative Research for an HIV Mobile Health Intervention for Mentors

Abstract

Background African American men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women bear a disproportionate burden of HIV. Young MSM account for 75% of this burden for youth. When youths lack socially protective resources such as strong networks of adults, including parents, teachers, or community members, mentors may play a critical role in promoting health behaviors. This is especially true for youth at risk for HIV, such as African American youth with sexual and gender minority (SGM) identities. In the past decade, natural mentoring and mentoring programs have proliferated as a key prevention and intervention strategy to improve outcomes for young people at risk for poor academic, social, and health issues. Mentors appear to be able to facilitate health promotion among young SGM by modeling healthy behaviors; however, mentors’ knowledge and resource needs regarding sexual health topics including HIV are understudied, as is the potential role of mobile technology in enhancing mentoring relationships and the ability of mentors to learn about sensitive issues faced by youth. Objective The aim of this study is to explore how mentoring plays a role in the sexual health of African American SGM youth and understand how mentoring relationships can be strengthened through mobile technology to promote youth HIV prevention behaviors. Methods In-depth interviews were conducted with African American SGM youth mentees (n=17) and mentors (n=20) to such youths in 3 Mid-Atlantic cities. Mentee interviews focused on discussions regarding sexual health and HIV and how a mentor could broach such topics. Mentor interviews explored whether sexual health and HIV are currently mentoring topics, mentors’ knowledge and confidence in mentoring on these issues, and barriers to discussions. All participants were asked if a mobile app could help facilitate mentoring on sensitive health issues, particularly HIV and sexual health. Data were transcribed, coded, and analyzed for relevant themes. Results Sexual health was a common topic in mentoring relationships, occurring more in natural mentorships than in mentoring program pairs. Mentors and mentees felt positive about such discussions. Mentors expressed having limited knowledge beyond condom use and HIV testing, and expressed a need for more complete resources. Both mentors and mentees had mixed comfort levels when discussing sexual health. Sufficient trust and shared lived experiences made discussions easier. Mentees have multifaceted needs; however, mentors stated that an app resource that provided self-training, resources, support from other mentors, and tips for better mentoring could prove beneficial. Conclusions For the African American SGM community, access to natural mentors is crucial for young people to learn healthy behaviors. A mobile resource to assist mentors in confidently having discussions with mentees may be a promising way to promote healthy practices.

Mentoring in the Time of COVID‐19: An Analysis of Online Focus Groups with Mentors to Youth

“…However, mentorship presented an opportunity to mitigate the stress associated with a global crisis. While the study of the impact of youth mentorship during a global health crisis is new, there is evidence showing that such relationships have been helpful in similar contexts, such as the prevention of HIV (Kaufman et al, 2020 ), and in crisis situations, such as the recovery from traumatic events (Johnson & Pryce, 2013 ).…”

“…Digital forms of mentoring have the potential to reach more youth and can provide more opportunities for mentees to connect with mentors who have certain characteristics and/or a shared lived experience and who may not be living in the mentee’s immediate community. For example, youth who have a rare health condition may require specific characteristics in a mentor, or a female mentee might expressly like a female mentor in engineering or computer science (Kaufman et al, 2020 ). E‐mentoring also has the potential to expand the number of mentors, as it provides flexibility when transportation time and costs are removed or when mentor–mentee interactions can occur asynchronously (Kaufman, 2017 ; Kaufman et al, 2020 ).…”

“…For example, youth who have a rare health condition may require specific characteristics in a mentor, or a female mentee might expressly like a female mentor in engineering or computer science (Kaufman et al, 2020 ). E‐mentoring also has the potential to expand the number of mentors, as it provides flexibility when transportation time and costs are removed or when mentor–mentee interactions can occur asynchronously (Kaufman, 2017 ; Kaufman et al, 2020 ).…”

“…While some tech‐based mentoring programs have been using digital technology with youth mentees for years, e‐mentoring was mostly limited to special populations prior to the pandemic, such as youth with disabilities, and to programs oriented toward career development in areas such as STEM (Kaufman, 2017 ). Small‐scale demonstration and pilot studies of these types of programs have reported some preliminary evidence of effectiveness (Kaufman et al, 2020 ; Kaufman, 2017 ). More recently, formative research also has highlighted youth with stigmatized identities (such as sexual and gender minority youth) as being receptive to digital platforms as a way to connect with mentors discreetly without needing to meet in person (Kaufman et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Small‐scale demonstration and pilot studies of these types of programs have reported some preliminary evidence of effectiveness (Kaufman et al, 2020 ; Kaufman, 2017 ). More recently, formative research also has highlighted youth with stigmatized identities (such as sexual and gender minority youth) as being receptive to digital platforms as a way to connect with mentors discreetly without needing to meet in person (Kaufman et al, 2020 ). In summary, although research on e‐mentoring for youth is in a nascent stage, it shows promise for offering a range of possible benefits (Kaufman et al, 2020 ).…”