Evaluation of the acceptance journeys campaign: Results from a rolling cross sectional evaluation with 3 comparison groups

Nearly one in three Black men who have sex with men in Wisconsin is HIV positive, a rate more than 100 times greater than the adult population as a whole. Homophobia is a prominent pathway through which MSM experience heightened HIV risk. We address this disparity through an academic-community-government partnership. This team utilized a scientifically driven approach to understanding the beliefs underlying homophobia and developing a social marketing campaign to address perceptions related to homophobia. Ultimately, the campaign aimed to increase acceptance, thereby reducing HIV/AIDS risk among young MSM of color in Milwaukee County. To date, Acceptance Journeys messages have been placed in numerous locations around the treatment city and have achieved millions of impressions. This paper presents the initial evaluation report. Data for this rolling cross sectional survey were collected using Qualtrics online survey sampling. The baseline survey of attitudes and beliefs ran from December 2011- January, 2012. The second survey ran in July-August, 2012. Participants were adults, ages 30+. The baseline survey sample included participants(N = 1,144) from the treatment city and two comparison cities. The follow-up survey included (N = 540) responses from the treatment city, and 3 comparison cities (the original 2 and 1 new city). At baseline the cities were not significantly different from one another on the demographic or outcome measures, which provides increased confidence in the appropriateness of the comparison cities. At follow-up, 17.4% of survey respondents in Milwaukee self-reported exposure to the campaign- significantly more than 2 of the 3 comparison cities.