Using Online Multimedia to Educate LGBT Youth about HIV Treatment and Care

With new guidance from the federal government in the form of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States in 2010 and the HIV Care Continuum Initiative in 2013, the field of HIV care and treatment has changed rapidly. In particular, modeling HIV care as a series of steps from diagnosis through viral suppression has allowed public health officials to delineate points in HIV care for intervention to improve outcomes for those living with HIV and prevent the transmission of HIV and has led to the consideration of treatment as prevention (TasP). Coupled with advances in research on the effectiveness of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) and biomedical interventions such as Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are now able to describe not only the highest risk populations, but at what point on the continuum interventions are most needed and the cost per infection averted at each stage, leading to High Impact Prevention. All points on the continuum of care for gay and bisexual men are worse for young men. While 18% of the total population living with HIV has not been diagnosed, this number rises to 51% of young men who have sex with men (YMSM). The largest gap, however, occurs between linkage to care and retention in care. Moreover, only 33% of gay and bisexual men know that incidence is increasing in their community, and only 14% know that ART is very effective at prevention transmission of HIV. To address this gap, we are proposing to create innovative, online multimedia educational resources for LGBT youth, with a focus on young gay and bisexual men, around the importance of HIV treatment and care. Through this project, we seek to demystify the prospect of what happens after a positive HIV test and increase knowledge and awareness of HIV treatment as prevention. During the one year project, we will create two videos, along with interactive online educational resources, such as Prezis and infographics, with the input of a Youth Advisory Committee, to ensure that the messaging is culturally competent to the target population. Using IMPACT’s existing online campaigns, such as Google AdWords and social media outlets, these resources will be seen approximately 3000 time per month, and upon their launch the multimedia project will be presented to youth groups at IMPACT’s local community partners. Both online analytic data and survey evaluation data will be collected to assess the project’s reach and knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intentions of those engaging with the content.