Table III.
Participant experiences with HOLA intervention implementation: domains, themes and select quotations
| Navegante Selection, Training, and Support |
| 1. Navegantes must be viewed as leaders, respected, and trusted within their social networks, and they must be motivated to help others. |
| “She was very trustworthy all the time. She always knew how to listen and was well informed. Before she was a Navegante, she was already my friend, so I have a lot, a lot, of trust in her.” (Social network member #5) |
| “[Navegantes should be] people who are committed to providing support, so that they can become the right hand for all of us… So that we feel able to talk to them or approach them, because as a community we are always in need of somewhere to go to get support.” (Social network member #4) |
| 2. The HOLA intervention Navegante training and materials reflected the real-world, lived experiences of Latinx GBMSM and TW and prepared Navegantes to promote sexual health. |
| “After all the information that they gave us, I think that they prepared me very well. They give you a foundation, concrete and detailed information, and the elements to help other people and transmit the correct information.” (Navegante #1) |
| 3. Monthly group meetings with the HOLA project coordinator empowered Navegantes through social support and creative problem-solving. |
| “Meeting together was beneficial both for me, and for the other Navegantes, to be able to become more informed and follow-up on what we were doing, to see what was working or wasn’t, and share experiences that each of us had had with our friends.” (Navegante #1) |
| Interactions Between Navegantes and Social Network Members |
| 4. Navegantes overcame challenges discussing sexual health by continuing to build trust with social network members and making activities fun and engaging. |
| “It’s a little difficult at first. People, especially Hispanics, aren’t very comfortable about talking about sex. They don’t feel free to say what they feel, but people start to feel a little more confident talking about sexuality after they have more information.” (Navegante #1) |
| “Because they are very private things, I had to know how to ask questions and how to have a conversation where they [social network members] would feel comfortable.” (Navegante #2) |
| 5. Navegantes' personalized activities met social network members' diverse needs and priorities. |
| “Each person is different. I tried to see which person was more inclined to a group conversation and which person was more inclined to an individual conversation. Before [HOLA] our conversation topics were very different, about nightclubs or things like that. After [HOLA] and still up to today, we talk about sex and experiences that happen. On occasions, guys ask me to accompany them to the health department, and I go with them, and they get tested for HIV.” (Navegante #6) |
| Impact of the HOLA Intervention |
| 6. Participation increased Navegantes’ and social network members’ knowledge and leadership skills. |
| “It opened our minds to talk a little bit more. Now they [social network members] are more informed. Now they take care of themselves more, they know more, and they pass on information to others.” (Navegante #4) |
| “Well, I learned how to put on a condom, because I didn’t know. I thought it was put it on and that’s it. I learned about many sexually transmitted diseases that one can easily catch without knowing and little things that I didn’t have knowledge about.” (Social network member #5) |
| 7. Problem-solving and public-speaking skills were developed and strengthened. |
| “Well, I think that, in itself, it wasn’t so much the information as the concept of how to take care of ourselves, and how to react in the face of situations. For example, if you have a friend who is going through a phase, be it depression or some other disease or that they have caught something, I know how to react in that situation to help.” (Social network member #5) |
| 8. Community capacity for intervention sustainability and dissemination was built. |
| “A benefit was creating a network of leaders who know each other a little better on another level. It created networking among us. Many of us are still in touch. And it is good to note that they [social network members] have kept the habit of asking me for condoms, and now they don’t take 10 condoms but instead 100 condoms for their co-workers, for their neighbors. They turned in to little leaders themselves. It was because it wasn’t just one educational talk and that was it, but it was about sexual intimacy and about condoms. It was something that was taking place at the level of an entire community. If you went to a party people would say, ‘I’m part of HOLA.’ ‘Oh, I’m also part of HOLA.’” (Navegante #3) |
| “I think that I will never stop being a Navegante because I will continue giving people information that they need. I will continue giving out condoms to people that don’t have them, giving out brochures. I will never stop being a Navegante” (Navegante #8) |