 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Jay Harcourt, MPH, University of California, Berkeley, 231 Sanchez St. #5, San Francisco, CA 94114, 415-552-0450, jayby@earthlink.net, Michael Siever, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, 3180 18th Street, Suite 202, San Francisco, CA 94110, William Wong, MD, San Francisco City Clinic, San Francisco Department of Public Health, 356 Seventh Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, and Steven Gibson, MSW, Magnet, 4122 18th Street, San Francisco, CA 94114.
Despite 20+ years of HIV prevention targeted towards gay men and other MSM, San Francisco (and other urban centers) has been experiencing a well documented rise in risk behaviors and HIV and STD incidence among gay men. Public health officials are attempting to determine why, in spite of high levels of knowledge, such trends are occurring and are struggling to identify effective prevention measures to stop the increases in transmission. The mainstream and gay press regularly present overly simplistic and sensational headlines claiming to uncover our "hidden" secrets. Yet, exposés on "barebacking," the Internet, "bug chasers," and drug induced hedonistic orgies fail to fully explain the erosion of the condom code. In San Francisco, a group of concerned community members, health educators, and activists have come together to create a new project that seeks to reframe how gay men view health. "Magnet," an innovative, storefront intervention that opened in the Castro in spring 2003 integrates a holistic, health promotion model of disease prevention and sexual health with the first clinical service facility designed specifically for gay men in San Francisco. Planned and operated by and for gay men, Magnet realistically addresses the complexities of gay men's lives in a facility located where gay men live, work, and play in San Francisco and moves towards a new paradigm in disease prevention and health promotion. Successes, challenges, and lessons learned from this project will be discussed and shared with participants so that similar models may be developed elsewhere.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Gay Men, Community-Based Health Promotion
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: N/A
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.