[Intervention for the promotion of sexual health through the internet: theory, empirical evidence and application]

Abstract

The current article suggests that the core characteristics of the Internet--its anonymity, accessibility, affordability, privacy, and acceptability--make it ideally suited as an efficient and effective channel for delivery of sexual and reproductive health promotion interventions. The authors analysis also asserts that it is essential to create Internet-based sexual and reproductive health promotion efforts that are based upon comprehensive and empirically validated models of the initiation and maintenance of health behavior change. Accumulated research shows that the Internet is indeed a widely used and important resource for information concerning sexuality for many individuals, with particularly widespread utilization among younger individuals. In this context, numerous successful attempts have been made to exploit the Internet for the promotion of behaviors essential to sexuality and reproductive health, although these effects have often been limited in scope. The current discussion concludes with theoretical and practical illustrations of Internet-based sexual and reproductive health interventions, employing a theoretical foundation, the Information- motivation-behavioral skills model of sexual and reproductive health, and an internet delivery vehicle, www.sexualityandu.ca, that is based upon it.