Study setting
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This study was conducted in a non-governmental organization that provides free-of-charge trans-competent and trans-affirmative HIV care in the context of clinical research in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Our trans-affirmative healthcare service includes a) use of patients’ preferred name and pronoun in interactions, clinical records and forms (which include sex assigned at birth and gender identity); b) an interdisciplinary trans-competent trained staff, aware of transgender people’s needs and accepting of their identities; c) integration of multiple services for this community (e.g., HIV, gender-affirming medical procedures, anal health) to simplify service delivery; d) adjustment to transgender populations’ social contexts (e.g., flexible scheduling and hours); and e) inclusion of transgender peer navigators. Peer navigators function as a bridge between the research site and the transgender community. Some of their main tasks are: a) to provide health information to their peers adapting it to their community and making it more accessible and comprehensible, b) to invite potential participants and to enroll them in the studies, c) to verify that they understood the informed consent correctly and to answer any concern about it, d) to assist transgender people in obtaining medical appointments and in navigating the healthcare service, e) to remind participants their upcoming visits, and f) to contact lost to follow-up participants to re-engage them in the study.