In London, HIV prevention for gay men has been commissioned to take place in recreational settings via outreach work as well as through the use of mass and small media.
Uncertainty remains however, regarding which sorts of HIV prevention activities are best suited to the gay bar.
In an attempt to generate new ideas about potentially useful work in gay bars, researchers from the Thomas Coram Research Unit at the Institute of Education, part of the University of London were commissioned to carry out research in gay bars in London to provide answers to the following questions:
- What features of gay bars might help and/or hinder HIV prevention?
- What are the key HIV- and AIDS-related concerns of men in bars?
- What sorts of HIV prevention activities might best appeal to those found in these settings?
Four contrasting gay bars in London were selected and focussed observations and semi-structured interviews with customers, bar managers and bar staff were carried out.
Whilst gay bars offer the opportunity to carry out HIV prevention work with easy access to gay men, the researchers identified key obstacles to carrying out such work;
- Physical aspects such as darkness or noise
- Social aspects such as gossip and the status and role of bar staff
- Frequency with which men use a bar.
The researchers found a degree of confusion about a number of HIV-related issues including current HIV epidemiology, the effectiveness of treatments, adherence etc.
Bar managers and customers differed in their opinion about the positioning of free condoms within the gay bar. Bar managers were of the opinion that condoms should be placed behind the bar and should be restricted to those who were least likely to be able to afford them. Some customers argued that condoms were not always available.
The research team recommend that service providers inform themselves about whether gay men using bars think that condoms should be free to all gay men at all times and use this to develop a condom-related policy.
Skills building sessions around appropriate condom use could be held in the early evening in the quieter part of the bar. Such sessions should be explicit and informative as well as enjoyable.
The researchers noted that posters were generally absent from all venues and in light of their awareness-raising potential, their development and production should be seen as a priority that might be best realised in conjunction with bar managers and customers to ensure that posters are suitable for a particular venue.
Bar staff were regarded as inappropriate contacts for sexual health information and focussed conversations about HIV or safer sex were almost universally dismissed as an idea.
Young gay men were regarded as being particularly in need of HIV-related information. Researchers suggested that interventions should be refocussed to specifically address the needs of young gay men and customers could be advised about how they could donate time or money to gay youth groups.
The authors concluded that ‘renewing work in gay bars across London should be a central feature of a more coordinated approach to HIV prevention’.
The report can be read in full online at the website of the Thomas Coram Research Unit
Warwick I et al. Views from the Bars: Gay Men’s beliefs about HIV and implications for HIV prevention.