Act Against AIDS Message Dissemination Channels to Effectively Reach the Transgender Population

Background: Transgender people are among those at highest risk for HIV and are also a difficult to reach population. This session will focus on the AAA dissemination strategies employed to reach the transgender population.

Program background: Act Against AIDS (AAA) is a national-level communication initiative designed to reduce HIV incidence by promoting awareness, education, and targeted behavior change under one framework and brand. AAA campaigns and communication tools span the HIV care continuum and are designed to reach multiple audiences. This session will present strategies used by AAA to reach transgender people including the following: (1) disseminating content on popular social media channels, using population specific hashtags, through digital ambassadors who identify as transgender; (2) disseminating information through healthcare providers who provide gender-affirming care; (3) disseminating information through trusted partner organizations that are led by the transgender people; and (4) disseminating content at conferences that are trusted by the transgender population (e.g., USPATH).

Evaluation Methods and Results: Formative research to inform the development of an HIV prevention initiative for transgender women and their health care providers included consulting with an advisory group of community-based providers, researchers, and clinicians, transgender women, and advocates; conducting key informant interviews (N=9), and interviewing clinicians that provide gender-affirming care to transgender women (N=9). The formative research revealed that using social media, transgender message champions, transgender-friendly organizations and health care providers, and conferences for transgender women and providers that serve them are key dissemination channels.  AAA used the strategy of engaging message champions and social media on the inaugural National Transgender HIV Testing day (NTHTD) in 2016. The Center of Excellence for Transgender Health, co-hosted a Twitterchat using key hashtags and engaged transgender celebrity influencers from the hit show, I am Cait. The chat generated 2.8 million impressions with 123 participants. The chat was amplified using hashtags that were created and championed by community influencers (e.g., #GirlsLikeUs). AAA also works with a network for 13 community influencers (i.e., people who identify as transgender or have close ties to the community). These influencers provide thorough content review, and support materials and message dissemination through their organizations’ social media channels. We have conducted panel sessions to disseminate campaign resources at five transgender-focused conferences across the country. Two out of the five sessions specifically included transgender community influencers to co-present with CDC at the sessions. Sessions were attended by over 100 people and the audience gave positive feedback. Finally, we provided printed content from multiple AAA campaigns featuring transgender people at these events. 

Conclusions: Based on formative research and evaluation data, engaging transgender people through social media may aid in maximizing the reach of messages and materials. Utilizing partners, including community influencers and transgender focused events and organizations, to disseminate messaging show to influence the transgender population.

Implications for research and/or practice: Communication efforts designed to engage transgender populations should utilize multiple strategies. Organizations should work with transgender people and transgender-led organizations to increase ownership and create buy-in of products to increase product relevance and dissemination.