Video gaming and Social Networking Could Help Prevent HIV in At-Risk Gay Men

Even after the top of the United states

HELPS

situation,

HIV

is still a problem among gay guys, who are clinically determined to have the illness at a rate «more than 40 occasions that of females and most 44 times regarding some other men,» as a
current paper
during the

Diary of Hospital Online Research

explains. The paper, a study of numerous tech-driven strategies to lower the rate of

HIV

within at-risk population, things toward the new generation of (hopefully) effective


interventions.

There are lots of interesting choices in the offing, as the learn’s
pr release details
:

One interactive web site, Sexpulse, created by health care professionals and computer researchers to target guys which find sexual lovers on the web, successfully reduced risky sexual habits. Another website, Keep It Up! (

KIU

), utilized video games to help reduce rates of exposed anal intercourse. A 3rd step, a downloadable game, aided mitigate pity noticed by some men that have gender with guys, although lowering of dangerous sexual conduct was not statistically


considerable.

The challenge is much less about

exactly what

message to deliver, since the fundamentals of exactly how

HIV

and

HELPS

work being pretty well-publicized at this point, than tips provide it, since simply outlining that a behavior is unsafe is normally not sufficient to change


it.

You’ll want to suggest that this doesn’t merely affect homosexual men; people do a variety of risky actions, from substance abuse to overeating to smoking cigarettes to having sedentary lifestyles, despite being advised they can be dangerous. This is why practical question of the way to get men and women to make better choices is a huge area of issue for public-health experts — creating an effective behavior intervention can be a very difficult move to make. (we’re going to be posting a lengthier, more detailed article about this subject


quickly.)

Probably the most of use approaches smartly target social media sites â€” peer force has a tendency to influence all of us in many ways additional is attractive frequently try not to. It was borne call at the


analysis:

On social support systems such fb and Twitter, popular people can distribute

HIV

-prevention messages their friends and fans. The sharing of info about

HIV

screening join the dating app via this source on a myspace and facebook seemed to increase needs for

HIV

screening packages, one research found. Another study discovered that making use of opinion frontrunners to disseminate

HIV

-prevention details via social support systems may increase examination prices and bolster condom utilize during anal sex with lovers discovered


online.

Its a really odd quirk of human reasoning that presentation the same kind of details in a slightly different means may cause far better effects. Luckily for us, specialists are beginning to benefit from


this.