Seeley S; International Conference on AIDS (15th : 2004 : Bangkok, Thailand).

Int Conf AIDS. 2004 Jul 11-16; 15: abstract no. WePeE6786.

CAMP Rehoboth, Rehoboth Beach, United States

Background: Bars, bathhouses, sex clubs and other cruising places have been the central places that gay and bisexual men pick up other men for sex. Over the past few years, the internet has become the "virtual bathhouse" in which gay/bi men are cruising cyberspace for sex partners. These men are enlisting the use of chatrooms, websites, discussion boards and instant messaging as a way to meet sex partners online and then in real time. Studies show that gay/bi men who use the internet to find sex partners are at greater risk for catching HIV and other STI's. New opportunities exist for service providers to provide HIV/STI prevention for this cyber population online. Description: The web project of CAMP Rehoboth was created to in response to the many articles and studies that were done that said more men were using the internet to find sex partners. The CAMPsafe program wanted to use the internet as a method to reach out to rural and vacationing gay men who live in Sussex County Delaware. Online prevention counselors are available in chatrooms that these men frequent to answer questions about HIV, AIDS, STI's and other questions about sexual health. Over the past two years, the CAMPsafe program has engaged over 1,000 men online. Lesson learned: Online Prevention represents a new intervention method and perhaps a successful one of reaching hard to reach populations (MSM's, young men and rural gay populations). While online, individuals are more likely to be open and honest about their risk taking activities rather than talking about it in a face to face interview. Recommendations: There is much work to do in this new field of prevention. Much thought is still needed on how to best serve this population of internet users. However, many agencies working with gay/bisexual men should begin looking at the use of the internet to provide information to this population.

Publication Types:

• Meeting Abstracts

Keywords:

• Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
• Bisexuality
• Delaware
• HIV Infections
• HIV Seropositivity
• Homosexuality, Male
• Humans
• Internet
• Interviews as Topic
• Male
• Risk-Taking
• Sexual Partners
• methods
• therapy

Other ID:

• GWAIDS0040483

UI: 102284699

From Meeting Abstracts