388P
THE ACCEPTABILITY & EFFECTIVENESS OF AN INTERNET PEER SUPPORT OUTREACH PROGRAM CALLED I-RICE FOR EAST AND SOUTHEAST ASIAN MEN WHO HAVE SEX WITH MEN
K Ho1, M Poon1, P Ho1, N Sutdhibhasilp1, G Browne2, R Sokolowski2, M Wong2
¹Asian Community AIDS Services (ACAS), Toronto; 2CLEAR Unit, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario
Background: Since 1994, Asian Community AIDS Services (ACAS) has been developing programs and providing HIV/AIDS education prevention to Asian men having sex with men (AMSM). Several campaigns have been developed such as bathhouse outreach programs targeting Asian men in bathhouses, and organized social support events that cater to queer Asian youth. Now, with the emerging increasing numbers of internet users, ACAS is working on a new education/outreach program targeting this population. Recently, in large cities such as New York and San Francisco, there were a number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) outbreaks in the gay community. Most of these were traced to men having sex with other men that they meet via the internet. By providing a cyber recreational/educational space to AMSM, we are aiming at increasing visibilities and promoting positive Asian images using both on-line and other approaches.
Purpose & Objective: The purpose is to promote the idea of healthy sexuality including safer sex information to gay Asian men on-line (chat room), so as in an attempt to decrease the spread of HIV/AIDS and STI among AMSM, hence achieving the ultimate goal of increasing positive gay Asian identity and visibility on-line and in reality.