Brothers Building Brothers by Breaking Barriers: development of a resilience-building social capital intervention for young black gay and bisexual men living with HIV

Figures & data

Figure 1. Proposed relationships between social capital, resilience and HIV care engagement.

Figure 2. Community-based participatory intervention development process.

Table 1. Key recommendations from qualitative interviews.

Recommendations for Intervention Content

Find a way to treat the whole person

Empower participants with skills to get the support they need

Raise awareness and pride about Black gay culture and history

Address stigma and internalized homophobia

Find ways to create connectedness between YB-GBMSM

Refer participants to other resources as needed, particularly mental health

Recommendations for the Intervention Approach

Engage participants, make activities interactive and entertaining

Utilize interactive group discussions

Be nonjudgmental, sex positive

Consider judicious use of social media

Meet participants where they are in terms of interest in HIV care engagement

Table 2. Brothers Building Brothers By Breaking Barriers: intervention description.

Module title	Description of module activities	Module goals
Introduction
Module 1: Set the Stage	Welcome, introductions, and icebreaker activities.	Provide outline of program, introduce facilitators and participants, set expectations, and create a safe space
Module 2: Who’s on your team?	Didactic presentation and interactive activity teaching the concept and utility of social capital	Explain the theoretical foundation of the intervention
Building Myself
Module 3: Who am I?	Interactive activities exploring self-perceptions and intersectional identities at the individual level. Group activities facilitating participants’ affirmations of each other.	Identify the ways in which multiple identities (e.g., gay identity, Black racial identity, HIV-positive identity) interact
Module 4: Critical self-reflection	Didactic portion on critical self-reflection techniques (e.g., the practice of asking “What? So what? Now what?) and small group activities to apply skills to hypothetical case scenarios centered around pertinent themes (e.g., HIV disclosure, homophobia).	Reflect on how individual actions impact others; discuss common stressors and positive coping strategies
Module 5: Communicating my needs	Didactic activity to illustrate differences between passive, aggressive and assertive communication. Reflective activities around individual communication preferences.	Reflect on personal communication styles and common barriers to effective communication
Building Bridges
Module 6: Breaking Barriers – Relationships	Reflective activities in which participants identify sources of social capital in their existing networks, and role-play activities to practice new communication skills.	Reflect on communication in relationships and potential social capital therein. Build conflict resolution skills.
End Day 1
Module 7: Breaking Barriers – Professional Settings	Interactive case scenarios to help participants navigate bias and other obstacles at work or school. Group activity to discuss priorities in choosing healthcare providers and linking to HIV care.	Build skills for succeeding in professional arenas and cultivating relationships with colleagues and supervisors. Enhance skills for successfully navigating healthcare settings.
Building Bonds
Module 8: Black Gay Community	Individual reading of information about selected notable individuals in Black gay history followed by game to test knowledge. Group discussion of current norms in Black gay community.	Gain appreciation of the historical contributions of Black gay men, discuss and critique social norms on modern Black gay culture.
Staying Connected
Module 9: Connecting the Dots	Individually-focused worksheets about their future goals and strategize how to apply their social capital to achieve these goals. Group activity in which participants work together to identify social capital in the community that can help YB-GBMSM living with HIV.	Set short and long-term goals for career, relationships and health while reflecting on the role of social capital in achieving these goals. Build a sense of future orientation.
Module 10: My social capital	Introduction to follow-up project to be completed over the next month (Photovoice). Group affirmation activity. Distribution of resource list.	Introduce Photovoice community action project. Provide affirmation to one another. Conclude intervention session.
Intervention Booster
Module 11: Follow-Up (one month later)	Review photos taken by each participant over the preceding month with accompanying group discussion.	Photovoice follow-up and discussion. Reflect on progress toward short term goals and utilization of social capital in the interim.