Using community-based participatory research to develop a chat room-based HIV prevention intervention for gay men.
BACKGROUND
Although seeking sexual partners on the Internet is an identified risk factor for HIV and sexually transmitted disease infection among gay men and men who have sex with men (MSM), the medical literature lacks descriptions of the development, implementation, and evaluation of interventions for reducing infections among men who seek sexual partners online.


OBJECTIVE
We sought to fill this gap by describing Cyber-Based Education and Referral/Men for Men (CyBER/M4M), an intervention designed to reduce HIV exposure and transmission among gay men and MSM who use geographically defined chat rooms.


METHODS
CyBER/M4M was developed by a community-university partnership that included gay men who had experience with seeking sexual partners online, and representatives from community-based organizations, the local public health department, two universities, and national organizations with expertise in community-based participatory research (CBPR) and HIV prevention.


RESULTS
Two products emerged: the CyBER/M4M Training Manual, designed to facilitate training of lay health advisors known as CyBER/M4M Educators, and CyBER/M4M Resource Manual, designed as a reference for the educators.


CONCLUSIONS
Further research is clearly needed, but this work provides insight into the development, implementation, and evaluation of a chat room-based HIV prevention intervention using CBPR.
Rhodes
Scott D
SD
Wake Forest University Health Sciences, USA.
Hergenrather
Kenneth C
KC
Duncan
Jesse
J
Ramsey
Barry
B
Yee
Leland J
LJ
Wilkin
Aimee M
AM
D000328:Adult; D003150:Community Health Workers; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D017144:Focus Groups; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006266:Health Education; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D047568:Unsafe Sex / Q000517:prevention & control; D055815:Young Adult