Once a Navegante Always a Navegante: Latino Men Sustain their Roles as Lay Health Advisors to Promote General and Sexual Health to their Social Network

摘要

Little is known about the sustainability of male and men’s-health-focused lay health advisors. HoMBReS Por un Cambio was a community-level social network intervention designed to improve sexual health among Latino men who were members of soccer teams. During the year after the intervention implementation, lay health advisors (Navegantes) continued to promote sexual health; over 84% (16 of the 19) Navegantes conducted 9 of 10 primary health promotion activities. Describing where to get condoms was the activity that the most Navegantes reported having conducted. Navegantes had broad reach with their social networks, although the number of Navegantes that conducted each activity differed across the categories of social network members (soccer team mates, non-team mates, and women). Results suggest that HIV-related health disparities may be addressed through lay health advisor interventions because they are sustained after the intervention ends and reach large numbers of community members.