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Purpose: This study uses youth input to identify key characteristics for peer navigators in urban high school health centers. Peer navigators a proposed intervention to improve utilization of school health center services, specifically, HIV prevention services.

Methods: We conducted four focus groups at a South Bronx high school campus school health center using nominal group technique [1, 2] to maximize participation and achieve group consensus. Each focus group consisted of 8–13 adolescents. Total participants were N= 37, ages 14–19, with a median age of 16 years. 20 participants (54%) were female. Group demographics reflect the patient profile of the health center. Each group reflected on three aspects of a theoretical peer navigator–Who, What, and How–to define key characteristics. Participants wrote responses onto index cards and each participant was asked to share their responses. Moderators led the …