Outreach services for gay men

To help put you in touch with services available in London, 'outreach', brings information and support to gay men in the places where they go to socialise or meet for sex.

Health Trainers

Health Trainers will often be the first point of contact for men who have sex with men on issues related to HIV prevention. Health Trainers will be based in commercial venues (bars, clubs, PSVs), community agencies and clinical settings.

Those men who come into contact with Health Trainers will, where appropriate, be offered a ‘life check’. This is intended to assist men identify their support needs, their current levels of knowledge, and discuss possible STI and HIV risk behaviour. They will also provide the person with a tailored action plan based on the results of the health check.

Where contact details are provided a Health Trainer will be able to contact the person to see if the information provided was of use and also to help support the individual in any choices he might make based on the information provided. The follow up might also allow the Health Trainer to refer the person concerned into an appropriate support service.

'Netreach'

Traditionally outreach has been delivered to gay men in bars, clubs, saunas and parks, but outreach for gay men in London is now available on the Internet, in a special chat room set up by THT on the website www.gaydar.co.uk.

The name of the outreach or 'netreach' chat room on Gaydar is 'THT Health Info' and the times when you should be able to visit the room and chat to an outreach worker are as follows:

Monday	18.00 to 21.00
Wednesday	15.00 to 18.00
Thursday	19.00 to 22.00
Saturday	13.00 to 16.00
Sunday	17.00 to 20.00

In the meantime if you would like information and support on sexual health matters you can:

Call THT Direct on 0845 12 21 200, email info@tht.org.uk or visit THT's website: www.tht.org.uk
Or speak to at a health advisor at one of the GUM clinics listed on this website.