Recruiting and Engaging Heterosexual-Identified Men Who have Sex with Men: A Brief Report of Considerations for Sex Researchers

Abstract

Heterosexual-identified men who have sex with men (H-MSM) are a unique population difficult to identify and recruit for research and practice. Yet, engaging H-MSM remains a top research priority to learn more about this population’s health needs. A scoping review was conducted to develop a stronger under- standing of recruitment patterns involving H-MSM in research. The search and screening procedures yielded 160 total articles included in the present study. Most studies relied on venue-based and internet- based recruitment strategies. Thematic analysis was then used to identify three themes. Locations of H-MSM’s sexual encounters related to where sex researchers may recruit participants; sociocultural backgrounds of H-MSM related to important characteristics researchers should acknowledge and con- sider when working with H-MSM; and engagement with health services related to how H-MSM interact with or avoid HIV/STI testing and treatment and other public health services. Findings suggest H-MSM have sex with other men in a variety of venues (e.g. bathhouses, saunas) but tend to avoid gay-centric venues. H-MSM also are diverse, and these unique identities should be accounted for when engaging them. Finally, H-MSM are less likely to access healthcare services than other MSM, highlighting the need for targeted advertisements and interventions specific for H-MSM.

Description
© 2024 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
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Citation
Scheadler, T. R., Rao, S., Shuper, P. A., Beer, O. W. J., Curtis, T., McInroy, L. B., & Eaton, A. D. (2024). Recruiting and Engaging Heterosexual-Identified Men Who have Sex with Men: A Brief Report of Considerations for Sex Researchers. The Journal of Sex Research, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2024.2380017
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