TABLE 2.

Considerations and recommendation for conducting focus groups among Black men who have sex with men (BMSM)

Consideration/challenge	Recommendation/strategy
1. Recruiting BMSM	Incentivized referrals from key stakeholders Incentivized referral from study participants Outreach from community-accepted members of the target population Provide options for focus group locations and explore preferences for focus group locations
2. Scheduling participants	Provide up to three meeting times for focus group participation Confirm meeting times with continuous (≥2) follow-up contacts with volunteers prior to study participation from members of the population who have rapport with the community and key stakeholders
3. Screening Screen volunteers prior to meeting via phone or at another
	Discourage participants from bringing friends to meetings for screening immediately prior to the group Conduct confirmatory HIV-testing prior to study enrollment private and safe place
4.Managing focus groups	Remind participants that information is confidential Focus questions on community attitudes rather than individual experiences Limit groups to between five and eight participants Encourage participants to talk amongst themselves not necessarily to the researcher Build in time for personal reflections that might not support the original research question