Online Communities and CBPR: Engaging with Corporate Partners to Improve the Sexual Health of MSM

Issues: The CBPR approach has been particularly helpful to those in both academic and the community who are working to reduce the impact of HIV and other sexual health issues. In addition to traditional communities, it is important to recognize online communities, effective and ethical access to which often requires engagement with the corporate entities that make available such online services. Description: A series of projects were conducted in collaboration with Online Buddies Inc, a company that hosts online social and sexual networking websites that specifically cater to populations of men who have sex with men (MSM). The studies involved the collection of data from men that explored their overall health practices, quality of life measures, sexual behaviors, condom use, erectile function, relationship characteristics, and sex toy use. Lessons Learned: While the results of the partnership will have many traditional outcomes of CBPR research, it is the case that the operationalization of CBPR principles varies from studies that involve traditional communities. These are primarily related to issues of: a) balancing public health and corporate goals, b) engaging members of virtual communities, and c) translating research findings into public health programs online. Recommendations: Online communities, and the corporate entities that facilitate them, have the potential to play important roles in our ability to attain public health goals. While varied in many ways from traditional CBPR efforts, these academic-community-corporate partnerships offer new and innovative mechanisms for improving the sexual health of MSM who are seeking sexual and social interactions in virtual environments.