News Finding: Understanding how black gay and bisexual men are able to remain negative -- despite being constantly labeled "high risk" for or "vulnerable" to HIV by public health researchers and health care providers alike -- might provide us a roadmap for how to achieve better health outcomes and ultimately end the AIDS epidemic.
Paper Finding: Nevertheless, the findings are a first step in a new approach to preventing the further spread of HIV among young Black MSM.
News Context: Understanding how black gay and bisexual men are able to remain negative -- despite being constantly labeled "high risk" for or "vulnerable" to HIV by public health researchers and health care providers alike -- might provide us a roadmap for how to achieve better health outcomes and ultimately end the AIDS epidemic. It found that many participants attributed their ability to stay HIV negative to a strong sense of religious and spiritual identity, social support from friends and family, and social engagement with other HIV-negative black MSM in safe spaces. The study noted the need to provide safe social spaces for black gay and bisexual men to engage around HIV prevention and the need to incorporate HIV prevention messages into religious/spiritual contexts.
Paper Context: Findings must be interpreted with caution, as they are the result of a small number of qualitative interviews with participants who were not randomly sampled. Nevertheless, the findings are a first step in a new approach to preventing the further spread of HIV among young Black MSM. The adaptive strategies questionnaire developed as part of the larger study also will contribute to generalizability of these findings.