HealthMpowerment.org: feasibility and acceptability of delivering an internet intervention to young Black men who have sex with men.
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Date
2012-07-03
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Abstract
Young Black men who have sex with men BMSM are disproportionately affected by HIV AIDS in the USA and continue to experience rapidly increasing HIV incidence We designed a tailored theory based interactive HIV STI prevention website for young BMSM called HealthMpowerment org HMP and conducted a small pilot trial comparing HMP to currently available HIV STI websites We present findings demonstrating feasibility and acceptability of delivering the intervention to the target population of young BMSM Retention rates were 90 and 78 at one and three month follow ups respectively Evaluation immediately after the intervention s completion revealed that participants who used the HMP website reported high levels of user satisfaction and interest and low levels of website difficulty and frustration At the end of the intervention there was a trend in increased behavioral intentions to use condoms and engage in preparatory condom use behaviors in the intervention group compared to the control group p 0 10 We observed a reduction in mean scores on the CES D scale among those in the intervention group that was not seen in the control group at the one month follow up though this was not statistically significant Feedback from exit interviews with study participants suggested that HMP is relevant to the prevention needs of young BMSM Overall the findings support the acceptability and feasibility of delivering this prevention program to a group that has few interventions despite bearing a significant burden of the epidemic Future trials combining Internet and mobile phone technologies are planned to test HMP among larger and more diverse populations of young BMSM
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Keywords
Young people (10-24 years), At risk for a particular disease or infection, Men (only), Client, Access to information or data, Feasibility, Usability, Safe sex, HIV/AIDS, Health education or promotion, Social and behavior change communication, Internet