Project CRYSP and
Sexual Health Xchange - SHX
Project CRYSP is more than a project that simply atttempts to prevent the use of crystal methamphetamine among gay and bisexual men in Chicago, it promotes healthy community addressing gay men's health holistically. A Chicago Department of Public Health-supported collaboration, Chicago agency partners include the Center on Halsted, Howard Brown Health Center, Test Positive Aware Network and AIDS Foundation of Chicago.
Project CRYSP began formative work in 2007 and began to roll out its interventions - including community mobilization, internet outeach, provider training and social marketing - in the first half of 2008.
Expected Goals and Outcomes- Increase community knowledge about the connections between crystal meth use, the use of other substances (both licit and illicit) Internet use, and unprotected anal sex
- Broaden capacity among healthcare and other service providers to educate and assess for meth-related issues
- Influence the target population’s community norms around meth use and unprotected anal intercourse, leading to decreased high-risk drug and sexual behaviors.
- Promote a holistic notion of gay men’s health and sexuality beyond STDs/HIV and crystal meth.
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On Valentines's Day in February, 2007, AIDS Action Committee in Boston, AIDS Foundation Chicago , AIDS Project Los Angeles , Philadelphia's Black Gay Men's Leadership Council and New York's Gay Men's Health Crisis, representing the diversity of gay, bi and same-gender-loving men throughout the United States, launched the Sexual Health Exchange (SHX)..
The mission of the SHX collaboration is to raise public awareness about the sexual health needs of all gay men and other men who have sex with men and to expand the range of sexual health education options available to gay men, especially those of color. Embracing a coalition approach as the optimal way to address the cross-cutting social issues underlying persistent health disparities that affect gay men, SHX strives to intensify an exchange of ideas and resources among individuals and allied organizations and to expand opportunities for grassroots participation in the promotion of gay men's sexual health as a human rights issue. In doing so, SHX hopes to unite gay men in their desire to have healthy and satisfying sex lives and to situate HIV/AIDS within a broader sexual health agenda.
