HIV Prevention: A community work approach with gay & bisexual men.
Int Conf AIDS 2000 Jul 9-14; 13:62 (abstract no.. LBPeD7112)
Bains A;;; Sheffield Centre for HIV & Sexual Health, Sheffield, United Kingdom. Fax: +44 114 226 1901, E-mail: anthonyb@chsheff-tr.trent.nhs.uk.
This poster will look at the work of the SHOUT! Centre.The SHOUT! Centre is a project managed by Sheffield Centre for HIV and Sexual Health. It was established in 1996 as a collaboration between the voluntary and statutory sectors, with the aim of reducing the incidence of HIV transmission, promoting general health and well-being, and building community spirit.The SHOUT! Centre is open two evenings every week for gay and bisexual men to access a range of different health and social activities. Men are offered the opportunity to discuss ways of sustaining safer sexual practices, and encouraged to attend workshops enabling the development of assertiveness and negotiation skills.An outreach programme targeting gay pubs, clubs, saunas, and cruising areas, promotes access to the Centre, particularly with men who are socially excluded. Sheffield is a city in the north of England with a population of over 500,000. There is high unemployment, and significant proportions of the population live in poverty. This is reflected amongst the men who use the service.The poster will explain the methods used in our approach, including outreach work and groupwork, and how we aim to build the self-esteem of the men using the service via workshops, short courses and one-to-one work. The poster will include: The role the service plays in HIV prevention via workshops, condom availability, promotion of local sexual health services, and support from the GUM Clinic. The high incidence of mental health problems experienced by men using the service; The significant numbers of married men contacting and accessing the service; The tension between men's use of the service for social purposes and our role as promoters of health.
Keywords: AEGIS, Bisexuality, Homosexuality, Male, Homosexuality, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, HIV Infections, HIV Seropositivity, Condoms, Work, Incidence, Demography, Advertising, Health Services, England, Human, Male, prevention & control, AIDS 000709
LBPeD7112
