Reuters Health of N.Y. is a program designed to help those living with HIV. Their programs work best to minimize sexual risk when they include training in condom use as well as social support and quality of life. However, Dr. Blair T. Johnson of the Center for Health/HIV Intervention and Prevention at the University of Connecticut in Storrs and colleagues state that the effectiveness of these preventative strategies have not been tested on HIV positive men who have sex with men.

The motivational aspect of these programs would be intended to instill a sense that it is worth being safe, even if you are HIV positive. Johnson’s team has reviewed 15 different tests meant to determine the usefulness of different approaches meant to minimize sexual risk amongst the HIV positive. The resulting evidence for these programs has been varied.

Condom use was raised, yet the number of sexual partners did not change. Younger people in their 20’s have responded more than those in their 40s, perhaps because these older people are in long-term relationships, which tend to cause a resistance to change. Programs which included a motivational aspect along with condom-use training were more affective in getting people to use condoms than those programs that only focused on condom use.

Overall, researchers found that these programs were generally ineffective with men who have sex with men. Most surprising perhaps is that 20 years into the AIDS epidemic there have been so few randomized controlled tests focusing on those who are HIV positive.