Internet based prevention program for Men who have Sex with Men in Santa Clara County Billy DeFrank LGBT Community Center (408) ext.114

Goal Statement An STI/HIV/AIDS risk reduction program among MSM in Santa Clara County through Internet based education, counseling and referral.

The launching Project was implemented last July 1, Participated by some volunteers and some prevention providers. Review and modification of the newly developed compilation of Frequently Asked Questions was used during the implementation. AIDSnet Sentry Project’s website was launched on December 22, 2003.

Website Holdings Program’s goals and objectives HIV/STD resources for every California County Ask Frank Contact us

Risk Populations HIV Positive Men Men of Color Adolescents and Youth Vulnerable/Practicing High Risk Behavior including Substance Users Transgender Persons *We do not limit our services to other high risk groups (e.g. women and heterosexuals with multiple partners)

Our Role To provide cyber outreach and internet based education, counseling and referrals into chat rooms, profile search, instant messages and s (when given permission).

Evaluation Tools to Quantify Health seeking behaviors (if client reaches to us to get benefiting information) Number of addresses harvested for alerts (when given permission) Number of chatters “exposed” to health messages in the main chat rooms

Evaluation Methods Long ELI outreach form for risk assessment (when clients voluntarily agree) Post chart survey (needs assessment) Conversational printouts (back-up proofs)

Frequently Asked Q?’s S/S of STI’s, its prevention and cure Organizations/Institutions who provides STI/HIV/AIDS counseling, testing, prevention programs/services in Santa Clara County HIV symptoms/window period Risks of STI/HIV transmission through oral sex Condom usage

Fig.1. Distribution of Respondents Ethnicity per Quarter, July-December 2003 (N=283)

Table 1. Respondents Age Group by Ethnicity, July-December 2003 (N=283)

Fig. 2. Respondents Sexual Orientation per Quarter, July-December 2003 (N=283)

Table 2. Ethnicity by Sexual Orientation, July-December 2003 (N=283)

Table 3. Age Group by Sexual Orientation, July-December 2003 (N=242)

Fig. 3. Percentage of Drug Use Among Respondents, July-December 2003 (N=55)

Fig.4. Respondents Location per Quarter, (Santa Clara Vs. Other Counties) July-December 2003 (N=283)

Fig. 5. Gay.com Vs. AOL.com per Quarter, July- December 2003 (N=283)

Problems Encountered Chat room traffic Conversations not printable Exclusive chat rooms Can’t refuse clients from outside Santa Clara County Time variation Reaching Men of Color

Successes Snowball technique Revision of contract (240 to 500) Track down low Best times for outreach Able to reach clients in other California counties as well as other states Increased number of participants Able to refer clients to testing sites, support groups & counseling Opportunity to expand programming in California Other State and counties inquires and s about the program Website and it’s expansion

Future Direction Create a statewide referral system Expand outreach to rural areas Encourage other prevention providers to adopt AIDSnet Sentry methods when implementing an Internet based intervention

“It’s not who you are, but what you do… that puts you at risk” Thank you!!!

Erika Escobedo, BSW Wendell Cuenco, Ph.D. 938 The Alameda San Jose, CA (408) x