Rethinking HIV prevention strategies for gay men. Clearinghouse, P.O. Box 6003, Rockville, MD 20849-6003. 800-458-5231 ext. 5023. NLM AIDSLINE Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

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Rethinking HIV prevention strategies for gay men. Clearinghouse, P.O. Box 6003, Rockville, MD 20849-6003. 800-458-5231 ext. 5023.

Focus. 1995 Feb;10(3):1-4. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE AIDS/95700280
Gold RS; Deakin University, School of Psychology, Victoria, Australia.

Abstract: For many gay men there is not a safe sex culture. In fact, the incidence of unsafe sexual behavior remains disturbingly high. This raises questions about the effectiveness of our current approach to behavior change interventions for the prevention of HIV infection. Three studies were designed to investigate factors that may contribute to gay men's decisions to have unprotected anal intercourse. The findings suggest that while many gay men successfully maintain safe sex regimens or practice negotiated safety, in a substantial proportion of the gay community there is not a safe sex culture. At best, there may be an occasional slip-up culture. An intervention study was designed to investigate an alternative approach to HIV education that may counter self-justifications made during the heat of the moment. Findings showed that information and exhortation materials, no matter how well-designed, are no longer effective at changing behavior. Getting gay men to reflect on and evaluate the thinking that they employ during sexual encounters does help to prevent repeated slip-ups.
Keywords: Adult Contraceptive Devices, Male/UTILIZATION Health Promotion *Homosexuality, Male Human HIV Infections/*PREVENTION & CONTROL Intervention Studies Male Peer Group Sex Behavior Sexual Partners NEWSLETTER ARTICLEKWDadultcontraceptivedevices,male/utilizationhealthpromotionKWDhomosexuality,malehumanhivinfections/KWDprevention&controlinterventionstudiesmalepeergroupsexbehaviorsexualpartnersnewsletterarticle
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Copyright © 1995 - National Library of Medicine. Reproduced under license with the National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD.

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