ISISprojects

The Internet for STD/HIV Prevention & Sexual Health Promotion: 

The Internet for STD/HIV Prevention & Sexual Health Promotion Deb Levine, M.A., Executive Director Internet Sexuality Information Services, Inc. November 15th, 2006

ISIS, Inc.: 

ISIS, Inc. 501(c)3 organization founded in 2001 Creating new & effective tools to reach people with critical sexual health information Developing high-tech solutions for sexual education and HIV/STD prevention

Best Practices for Interventions: 

Best Practices for Interventions Needs assessment – focus groups, chat/IM interviews, community advisory boards Include community in all aspects of program development Extensive usability testing with target audience Good on and offline social marketing Evaluation plan

Model ISIS Programs: 

Model ISIS Programs All program developed in partnership with SF DPH inSPOT: an anonymous peer-to-peer online STD partner notification program SexINFO: a sexual health cell phone text messaging program for youth STDTest.org: download lap slips & get test results online via unique ID

inSPOT: STD e-cards: 

inSPOT: STD e-cards Developed in response to the rise in syphilis among men who have sex with men in San Francisco Focus groups of target population found: 1) Pre-AIDS vs. post-AIDS mentality towards STDs 2) Always tell partners about STDs, but not always hookups, f* buddies, etc. 3) Would tell “casual sex partners” if there were an easy, anonymous way

inSPOT: 

inSPOT Launched in October, 2004 to national media acclaim Simple mechanics and design: Tell Them Get Checked Cards can be sent anonymously or from an email address to up to 6 people Drop down menu of STDs Personal message optional No back-end database Quickly gained community trust & support

Sample e-card: 

Sample e-card

Current Site: 

Current Site Available in 6 cities, 4 states, one country Being translated into Spanish Content updated for all sexual orientations E-prescriptions available in SF for gonorrhea and chlamydia treatment

Usage statistics: 

Usage statistics 750+ people visit the site each day 30,000 ecards have been sent to 49,500 recipients from SF site Every month, from 50-700 ecards are sent from each site in the portal (50= Indiana; 250 = San Francisco; 700 = Los Angeles) - 80% of ecards are sent anonymously - 80% of ecards include a personal message >49% of people receiving ecards click-through for more info about STDs and testing sites

Impact? HIV: 

Impact? HIV *Projected, based on May-June 2006 ** Reported cases. Source: HIV/AIDS Semi-Annual Surveillance Summary, Jan. 2006. General est. 1500-2000 cases per year. *** From 1,347 identified index patients. Source: LAC STDP, 2006

Impact? Syphilis: 

Impact? Syphilis *Projected, based on May-June 2006 ** Provisional. Source: LAC STDP, 2006 *** From 793 case interviews. Source: LAC STDP, 2006

Online Surveys: 

Online Surveys Two week survey in April 2006 Convenience sample Links posted on inSPOT portal, City Clinic website, HookingUpOnline.org, and Yahoo! Health Banner ads on Gay.com – SF only

Street Intercept Surveys: 

Street Intercept Surveys Convenience sample of 833 gay and bisexual men interviewed between March and December 2005 19% knew what inSPOT was 2% had received an e-card 4% had sent an e-card 73% said, if diagnosed with an STD, would consider sending an anonymous e-card

Online survey respondentsN=317: 

Online survey respondents N=317 Mean age= 31 years, (18-55+) 64% female; 36% male 48% Caucasian; 26% African-American; 11% Latino; 15% other 33% spend 10-20 hours/wk online 14% spend more than 30 hours/wk

Online surveys: 

Online surveys 13% knew what inSPOT was 3% had sent an ecard 3% had received an ecard 65% of total respondents said they would consider sending an anonymous ecard if they were diagnosed with an STD in the future

Provider Surveys: 

Provider Surveys 150 surveys mailed to HIV medical providers in San Francisco; 46 (31%) returned surveys 26% had heard of inSPOT 9% had referred patients to site 84% would do so in the future 74% agreed that palm-sized cards were best way to give patients the information

SexINFO – SexText.org: 

SexINFO – SexText.org Sexual health text messaging project for youth age 12-24 in San Francisco Developed in response to rise in gonorrhea and chlamydia among young African American women Technology driven thru the web, delivered via cell phones Focus groups of youth found that they consider text messages to be accessible, affordable and private

Usage Stats: 

Usage Stats Developed with Advisory Board of youth workers, clergy members, adolescent medicine professionals, & young people 4500 unique inquiries in the first 25 weeks Top 3 Inquiries 1. What 2 do if condom broke 2. 2 find out about STDs 3. What 2 do if u think ur pregnant

Awareness of Service: 

Awareness of Service 322 surveys collected at 3 SF clinics 11% of clinic patients knew of SexINFO Patients from target audience MOST likely to know about service African-American, aged 12-18 Low income, live in target areas Least expensive cell phone provider

Technical Side: 

Technical Side Personal identifying info is downloaded every 24 hours to local medical record system Results are faxed from lab to DPH and input manually by data entry person into web database via unique ID Identifying information is never associated on the Web with test results

Statistics: 

Statistics Average 2000 visitors per month 620 blood draws to date All reactive tests have been followed up by Health Department Future: Private server, adding chlamydia and gonorrhea testing, adding interactive feature to determine necessary tests

Slide25: 

Online vs. Overall Screening Rates

Acknowledgements: 

Acknowledgements Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, San Francisco Department of Public Health, Director of STD Prevention and Control Gilbert Herdt, PhD, Director of NSRC and SFSU Human Sexuality Program Mary McFarlane, PhD, Research Behavioral Scientist CDC Division of STD Prevention Eric Whitney, Associate Director, ISIS Richard Foxall, Board Member, ISIS

Contact Information: 

Contact Information Deb Levine, MA, Executive Director ISIS, Inc. 436 14th Street, Suite 1511 Oakland, CA 94612 510-835-9400 510-835-9402 fax deb@isis-inc.org www.isis-inc.org