Safe Sex and Sex

¶ … people with high-risk of HIV infections are to avoid infection and if infected, avoid the spread of HIV to other people. How I will address the needs of this population is through research, understanding which subgroups are at highest risk for contracting the infection, and providing them with the information necessary to make sound decisions. I will also give them condoms and educate them on the importance of safe sex. Furthermore, I will provide them with resources on where to get additional condoms and/or clean needles.

HIV / AIDS has existed for more than three decades with infections occurring worldwide. Over one million people live with HIV and over 56,000 infections happen annually in the United States alone. High risk populations for development of HIV are homosexual men that engage in anal sex, and black people. Other high-risk populations are substance users, especially those that use and share needles, and prostitutes. High-risk populations must be counseled and given assistance to avoid contracting and spreading HIV to other people. The best strategy for addressing the needs of a high-risk population is education and preventative measures. This is because these high-risk population want to engage in sex and/or do drugs and so they must be equipped with the right tools and knowledge to avoid infection or spreading the infection.

Safe sex is crucial to preventing the spread of HIV. In the case of anal sex, lubrication and condoms can help decrease the likelihood of contracting the virus. Teaching the importance of using condoms and providing condoms for high risk populations can help curb the potential for such groups to engage in unprotected sex. Because blacks represent a 46% of new HIV infections, they must also be given sex education concerning the spread of HIV and other STDS and have condoms provided for them.

For those with substance abuse problems, namely those that use and share needles, referrals to treatment and rehabilitation facilities may help the user get the help he or she needs to stop the addiction. Other options are going to pharmacies to get clean needles and needle exchanges. Heroin users can join a buprenorphine or methadone program since the substances offered can be swallowed and not injected. Even sharing spoons for injection can lead to potential HIV infection so advising users to get tested and wear condoms while having sex can prevent the spread of HIV should the person suspect possible infection. Ultimately, it important to understand and identify the options each high-risk group has and ways they can prevent additional infections, and so forth.

Enhancing the motivation of gay people to practice safe sex can be difficult. Young gay people may have multiple sexual partners and may not engage in safe sex. This is because sexual expression can be hard to control and may lead to risky behaviors. The CDC endorses several HIV prevention programs that have proven to help young gay men change their behaviors concerning anal sex. Such changes are reduction in quantity of sexual partners and use of condoms. Furthermore, such programs also promote testing and thus reduce the chances of HIV infections spreading. The names of some of the programs are Many Men Many Voices, and MPowerment. I would base my interventions on the protocols followed by these programs as well as refer clients to these programs.

These programs help on different levels, encourage healthy, positive sexual behavior among at-risk populations. "Endorsed programs can be conceptualized as either community- or group-level interventions. Community-level interventions seek to change attitudes, norms, and values of an entire community/target population as well as the social and environmental contexts of risk behaviors in the target population/community" (Serovich, Craft, Mcdowell, Grafsky, & Andrist, 2009, p. 2). Efforts on the community level may include mass media messages and campaigns to promote the use of condoms for sex. Personally, I would show a popular figure promoting something like condom use, because research suggests it can trigger the at-risk to engage in similar behavior. Gay men like anyone else have role models they look up to an emulate. By giving gay men access to positive role models that promote lower number sexual partners and condom use, it is giving gay men a new perspective on sex.