Building trust
Community Navigators emphasized that communicating about sexual health and addressing stigma and misinformation were difficult but overcome by building and nurturing trust. Many of the Community Navigators reported initial challenges in communication with social network members related to sensitive topics due to stigma and discomfort. Though Community Navigators had their social network members' trust more generally, they had to work on building further trust specifically around sexual health. To surpass this barrier, Community Navigators fostered an open and safe environment and worked to normalize talking about sexual health. To make social network members feel more comfortable, Community Navigators eased into conversations about sexual health, first starting with a topic that was less sensitive or emphasizing common experiences that the Community Navigators and social network members shared, including feelings of stigma. Social network members opened up to the Community Navigators and to one another over time, and conversations about sexual health happened more naturally over the course of intervention implementation as Community Navigators continued to promote a sense of community within their social networks.