Gay poz sex
Research Team: Trevor Hart (nominated principal investigator), Barry Adam (co-principal investigator), Sandra Gardner, Elgin Lim, Robert Leahy, Mona Loutfy, John Maxwell, James Murray, Malcolm Steinberg
What is this research about?
Gay Poz Sex (GPS) is an eight-week sexual health intervention by and for gay and bisexual men who are HIV-positive. The program is facilitated by gay HIV-positive men who take a gay-positive, sex-positive approach to understanding sexual health and getting superb sex and is intended to be delivered within community-based agencies. More than half of the Queer Poz Sex team of researchers and facilitators is gay, HIV-positive men.
Gay Poz Sex uses a process called motivational enhancement counselling (motivational interviewing) to function with men around their sexual health goals. The Gay Poz Sex intervention is being formally evaluated through a clinical explore trial in Toronto and Vancouver. A pilot research has already been completed with promising results. The current trial, now underway in Toronto and Vancouver, aims to recruit 180 participants.
The study hopes to provide evidence that the intervention reduced the prevalence of unprotected anal sex be
HIV-positive men may use 'POZ parties' to reduce peril of spread of HIV, but other health risks may be involved
Sex parties where HIV-positive homosexual men meet for unprotected sex could help decrease the spread of HIV, but could involve a risk of sexually transmitted infections and superinfection with resistant strains of HIV, according to a pilot study conducted in Modern York and published in the October edition of Sexually Transmitted Infections.
Although the study is presented in measured language, and is careful to highlight both the potentially positive and negative health implications of sex parties involving HIV-positive gay men, or “POZ parties” as the authors call them, a media release from the publishers of the journal used much more sensational language and led to alarmist headlines such as “POZ parties spread super strain of HIV” in the popular press.
Events such as POZ parties may portray an attempt by HIV-positive gay men to handpick sexual partners of the same HIV status, so-called “serosorting”. Although there has been extensive research into the sexual behaviour of gay men in recent years, little is established about gay sex parties. Therefore researchers set
CTN 271: Gay Poz Sex
Study Approach
Study researchers aimed to recruit 180 participants for this study. Those who agreed to enrol and met inclusion criteria were scheduled for a unattached assessment session to finish a questionnaire and to discuss the study. They were then assigned to either start GPS right away or wait six months to start (control group).
GPS uses a counseling method called motivational interviewing and does not suppose that information and behavioural skills are sufficient to make change. The counseling is administered by peers and helps participants spot their own internal motivations to engage in behavioural change.
Participants selected to launch the GPS program completed eight two-hour GPS sessions. The specific steps of the GPS program include: eliciting from participants ideas about what behaviour each individual would like to change, enhancing confidence in being able to build the desired change, and helping the individual to make his desired alter. GPS is designed in a small group format with six to eight men to help foster social interaction. Participants completed a questionnaire at the end of the program and participated in follow-up assessments co
Some HIV-positive guys may select to only have sex with other guys who know they are HIV-positive. There are a rare things to keep in mind about sero-sorting for poz guys.
For poz guys, only sleeping with other poz guys can be a relief, since it’s less likely you’ll possess to deal with misunderstanding and stigma, or in some cases the persist about the transmission of HIV to an HIV-negative guy. Maybe you’re waiting to get linked to treatment, or in the middle of switching medications, so you’re not undetectable right now. Some guys are willing to agree the possibility of getting other STIs if they can have sex without condoms.
Two guys who perceive they have HIV choosing to have sex with each other is a reliable form of “sero-sorting” because HIV status is known to be the same.
Still, there are a few things to hold in mind if you’re an HIV-positive guy who is sero-sorting:
- Getting tested and treated for STIs regularly can help to cut down rates of STIs in gay men’s sexual networks.
- STIs are worth avoiding, which you can do by using condoms. The rates of STIs like syphilis are a big challenge right now for same-sex attracted men. They are particularly high among HIV-positive guys. Some
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