Youth-Serving Professionals’ Perspectives on HIV Prevention Tools and Strategies Appropriate for Adolescent Gay and Bisexual Males and Transgender Youth

•Professionals across disciplines identified common barriers to support sexual and gender minority youth.•Nurses are uniquely positioned to lead multidisciplinary teams to foster health.•Results support development of tools/resources useful across professional groups. HIV disproportionally burdens adolescent men who have sex with men (AMSM) and transgender youth. This study explores barriers and facilitators that professionals face in delivering HIV preventive services and education. Adolescent health providers (nurse practitioners, physicians, and other), school nurses, youth workers, and school educators were recruited nationally for this qualitative study. Thirty-four professionals participated. Common categories identified across professional group were (1) effective strategies for building trust with youth, (2) perceived barriers/facilitators to sexual health communication, (3) perceived barriers/facilitators to effective HIV prevention, and (4) preferred content for HIV prevention tools. Key elements for developing multidisciplinary resources to support AMSM and transgender youth should include (1) web-based or easily accessible sexual health educational materials, (2) resources for referrals, (3) trainings to support competence in caring for sexual and gender minority youth, and (4) guidance for navigating policies or eliciting policy change.