LGBTQ-Focused, Family-Based HIV/STI Prevention Interventions

Mentor Areas

Dr. Flores has been involved in several studies focused on preventing HIV and STI transmission among sexual and gender minority youth. His current research investigates the role of parents in the sexual health education of their adolescent sons who identify as LGBTQ. Through inclusive parent-child sex communication, he believes that the early provision of sexual health information attuned to the attractions, behavior, and identities of LGBTQ adolescents will reduce the formation of risky sexual behavior and their likelihood for HIV and STI infection. Dr. Flores received the Exemplary Teaching Award from the Department of Family and Community Health in spring 2021 and the Trustees' Council of Penn Women Award for Undergraduate Advising in fall 2021.

Description:

In Parents ASSIST (Advancing Supportive and Sexuality-Inclusive Sex Talks), the Gender-Inclusive Sexuality Talks (G.I.S.T.) Project, and the Sexual Health Inclusivity during Family Talks (SHIFTs) Program, we will help parents and LGBTQ youth overcome perceived impediments (e.g. anticipated awkwardness of talks, sons’ resistance to discussing sexuality issues) to sex communication, and offer skill-building techniques that parents can use with their LGBTQ children.  Our overall goal is to build and begin the evaluation of a web-based repository of animated videos and resources that will provide inclusive sex communication education and skills for parents of sexual and gender minority adolescents. Parents are potential HIV/STI prevention agents who can learn by observation and model their own behavior according to what they see. To our knowledge, Parents ASSIST, G.I.S.T., and SHIFTs will be the first projects in the country that will present salient LGBTQ topics through animation to parents. Leveraging animation technology’s two-fold potential to deliver memorable health messaging about a novel parenting topic that also models effective sex communication skills, we propose to co-create with community members the websites for Parents ASSIST, G.I.S.T. and SHIFTs.

Preferred Qualifications

A commitment to community-focused research with an emphasis on promoting LGBTQ adolescent wellness at home is a requirement for working on projects with Dr. Flores. Additionally, successful undergraduate applicants will have to be highly organized, flexible, and self-motivated; proficient in MS Word, Excel, and Powerpoint; have strong written and oral skills; and be willing to learn about a variety of research methods. Excellent capacity to conduct literature searches and/or reviews is a plus!