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Project Access is a qualitative study of barriers to HIV counseling and testing, and the personal HIV prevention strategies of drug users. Main Findings:

• Drug users’ risk behavior was not directly related to the number of times they had previously tested for HIV.
• Personal prevention strategies and HIV testing patterns are shaped by public health messages, institutional practices, and the concrete realities of living and surviving in impoverished communities.
• Many low-income drug users approach HIV as a chronic illness, one of many life threatening diseases facing their communities. HIV infection was seen as random and unpredictable, the virus was believed to lay dormant and completely undetectable within the body for years, and routine screening (HIV testing) was believed to be a primary means of managing HIV.
• Race, class, and gender inflect individuals’ perceptions, their responses to the threat of HIV, and their motivations for HIV testing.
• Health and social service referrals can play an important role in linking these populations to needed services.

HIV transmission is disproportionately on the rise among economically poor, African American men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States . Although this trend has been observed for over a decade, prevention efforts have apparently been unable to adequately address the needs of this population. Existing support systems for MSM have often failed to consider cultural and family differences, perceptions of sexual orientation, economic disparity, and differential access to education and information among African American MSM . Disenfranchised African American MSM are often isolated both by homophobia in the African American community and racism in the predominantly white gay community . In addition to this, many African American MSM self-identify as either bisexual or heterosexual, thus possibly eluding HIV prevention efforts which target gay men. The crisis of HIV in the African American community and in communities of color cannot be separated from the crises of poverty, racism, and drugs . The presence of crack and other drugs plays a continuing role in the social disintegration of many of these communities. However, relatively little is known about the role of substance use in HIV sexual risk behaviors.

Since 1991, the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS) has conducted collaborative research with local community-based HIV prevention organizations within a consortium model. Community-based research (CBR) refers to research that is conducted by or with the participation of community members. As conducted by CAPS, CBR was a full partnership, with the CBO partner taking the lead on developing the research question, delivering the intervention, and collecting the data. The academic researcher took the lead on developing the instrument, consent procedures, data collection protocol, and data analysis. Together, the academic/CBO team trained intervention and evaluation staff, interpreted the data, crosstrained on service and research issues, and disseminated the findings. We developed a model which supported joint work and negotiation of research activities, as opposed to a model where the academic researcher conducts a study on the CBO’s clients, with the CBO mainly providing access to clients.

This brochure lists research projects with gay men and helpful resources produced by CAPS/PRC. You might use it to:

• Stay up-to-date on research and learn what we found out from research
• Provide materials in trainings/presentations
• Advocate for services/funding
• Write grants
• Develop new or modify existing HIV prevention programs
• Evaluate current programs
• Connect with CAPS/PRC to develop new projects.

Lead researchers (PIs) are listed for each study. Contact us below to connect. Questions? Comments? Contact Daryl Mangosing at 415-514-4590 or [email protected] This brochure was prepared by the CAPS Community Engagement (CE) Core, which is previously known as the Technology and Information Exchange (TIE) Core.